Eugene Williams Wins Third Annual EA SPORTS Madden Challenge, Jesse Hanninen Wins Inaugural EA SPORTS NCAA Challenge

32-city, nationwide tournament on Madden NFL 2005 culminated in Las Vegas with a $50,000 Visa card and a trip to the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – December 13, 2004 – After four months of fierce competition in the 3^rd annual EA SPORTS™ Madden Challenge and the inaugural EA SPORTS™ NCAA^® Challenge tournaments from Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS), Eugene “Big Gene” Williams, Washington, D.C Champion, became the National 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Champion on Madden NFL 2005 and Jesse Hanninen, of Florida State University, is the 2004 NCAA Challenge Champion on NCAA® Football 2005.  Williams beat out more than 16,000 competitors in 32 cities who competed for more than four months nationwide. Winners from each of the Madden Challenge and NCAA Challenge regional tournaments were flown to Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for the respective ‘Finals’ competitions. Williams received a $50,000 VISA card and will attend the famed 11^th Annual EA SPORTS™ Madden Bowl™ presented by Xbox Live™ on February 3, 2005, held every year during Super Bowl week, in Jacksonville, Florida. Hanninen received a $10,000 check for winning the EA SPORTS NCAA Challenge.

The 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge ran every weekend from August 14-November 28, 2004 and is the only Electronic Arts sanctioned public tournament competition in the celebrated 15-year history of the EA SPORTS Madden NFL football video game franchise. Williams defeated Antoin “Pretty Boy” Williams, New Orleans regional winner, 37-27. More than 1000 students at 16 campuses nationwide competed in the 2004 NCAA Challenge. Hanninen defeated Michael Hawkins of Clemson University, 26-5.

The 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Regional Tournament Winners included:

        CITY CHAMP      AGE     Hometown       
                               
Kyle Cooper             Minneapolis     24              Milford, OH    
Tim Thomas             Green Bay       18              Menomaonhee Falls, WI  
Johnta Nelson          Chicago 16                        Chicago, IL    
Greg James             Indianapolis    24                Shreveport, LA 
David Seitchick         Detroit 20                          Margate, NJ    
Mike McAnany         Cleveland       19                New York, NY   
Robert Wright           Cincinnati      28                Euclid, OH     
Toby Merchant          Pittsburgh      28               Oakland, CA    
Toshiba Sharon         Buffalo 25                         Bear, Delaware 
Nathan Stanton         Boston  20                        New York, NY   
Anthony Brinson        New York        15              Clementon, NJ  
Robert Warren           Philadelphia    16              Washington, DC 
Eugene Williams       Washington DC   20           Philadelphia, PA       
Curtis Knight             Charlotte       23                Atlanta, GA    
Anthony Mims           Atlanta 22                         Norman, OK     
William "Billy" Wolf    Jacksonville    17               Tampa, FL      
Thomas Tsanadis       Miami   23                        Wellington, FL 
Terryl Samuel            Tampa   15                        Nashville, TN  
Elmar Kuli-Zade         Nashville       17                 Brentwood, TN  
Paul Wierzba            St. Louis       17                 McHenry, IL    
Antoin Williams         New Orleans     22             Houston, TX    
Sherman Jameson     Houston 19                        Houston, TX    
Matt Cardell               Dallas  15                         Colleyville, TX        
Troy Brown                San Antonio     21              Houston, TX    
Lincoln Morris            Kansas City     23              Nashville, TN  
Lamar Mathews         Denver  24                         Rochester, MN  
Allen Johnson            Phoenix 23                        Ontario, CA    
David Grant               Las Vegas       26               St. Petersburg, FL     
David Stepney           San Diego       21                Pomona, CA     
Luis Gonzalez           Los Angeles     26               Bakersfield, CA
Paul Ziegler               Seattle 22                          Bellevue, WA   
Montello Jones          San Francisco   23              Sacramento CA  

Madden NFL 2005, which is jointly licensed by PLAYER INC. and the NFL, has sold more than four million copies so far this year on seven platforms and Madden NFL football is America’s best-selling sports video game with over 40 million copies sold in its 15 year history.  The game Madden NFL Football is the only videogame to be honored and displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Reebok, Champs Sports, Best Buy and Visa were the official sponsors of the 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to NFL Youth Education Town (YET), an official NFL charity that provides high-tech educational and recreational centers designed to improve the academic, physical fitness, and job-related skills of at-risk youth. For additional information please check out www.maddenchallenge.com.

EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles and franchises include Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL^®, NBA LIVE basketball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR^®, MVP Baseball^™, NCAA^® Football and NASCAR® racing. The EA SPORTS home page is www.easports.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world’s leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA GAMES™ and EA SPORTS BIG™.  EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. 

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Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, EA GAMES, John Madden Football, Madden Bowl and MVP Baseball are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Team names/logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. Officially licensed product of PLAYERS INC. www.nflplayers.com. NBA, NCAA, NASCAR, NHL, MLB and FIFA are trademarks of their respective owners. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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