Madden NFL Franchise Mode and the Lack of Support for Franchise Players

Subject: Longstanding Concerns Regarding Madden NFL Franchise Mode and the Lack of Support for Franchise Players

To the EA Sports Madden NFL Development and Customer Support Teams,

I am writing as a longtime Madden NFL player, football fan, and, most importantly, a dedicated Franchise Mode user. I want to formally express my disappointment with the experience that Franchise players continue to receive and what feels like a continued lack of attention, communication, and meaningful support for one of Madden’s most loyal communities.

For many of us, Madden is much more than simply playing individual football games online. Franchise Mode is the reason we purchase Madden year after year. We build leagues, manage teams, develop players, make trades, draft rookies, compete with friends, establish rules, create communities, and invest countless hours into building franchises that can last for multiple seasons.

That level of commitment deserves to be recognized.

Unfortunately, being a Franchise Mode player has increasingly felt like being part of a community that is expected to continue purchasing the game while receiving less attention than other areas of Madden.

This is especially frustrating when customers are spending approximately $100 or more on premium editions of Madden in order to receive early access and other benefits. When someone is willing to spend that amount of money on a yearly sports title, there is a reasonable expectation that the primary advertised game modes will be functional, reliable, and supported from the beginning.

Instead, Franchise players frequently find themselves waiting.

We wait for patches.

We wait for bug fixes.

We wait for server problems to be addressed.

We wait for gameplay issues affecting leagues to be corrected.

We wait for Franchise-specific problems to receive attention.

And sometimes we are left wondering whether the problems affecting our leagues are even being treated as priorities.

That is extremely disappointing when some of us specifically purchase the more expensive version of Madden so that we can begin our franchises during early access. What is the value of paying extra to play early if Franchise Mode is not in a condition where players feel comfortable starting their long-term leagues?

For Franchise users, starting over is not always a simple solution.

A serious online franchise can involve 32 users coordinating schedules, drafting teams, making trades, creating league rules, recording statistics, streaming games, managing rosters, handling free agency, developing rookies, and playing through multiple seasons. Commissioners can spend countless hours organizing these leagues outside of Madden itself.

When a bug, server problem, roster issue, progression issue, scheduling problem, or Franchise-breaking glitch occurs, it does not affect only one game. It can potentially disrupt an entire league and the time invested by dozens of people.

That is why Franchise stability should be treated as a major priority.

The most frustrating part is that Franchise players have continued supporting Madden despite these problems. We continue buying the game because we love football. We continue creating leagues because we enjoy competing against our friends. We continue providing feedback because we want Madden Franchise Mode to become the experience we know it is capable of being.

However, loyalty should work both ways.

Franchise fans should not feel like we have to beg every year for basic improvements, communication, stability, and attention.

There should be a stronger commitment to ensuring that Franchise Mode is properly tested before launch. There should be clearer communication when major Franchise issues are discovered. There should be realistic timelines for fixes whenever possible. Most importantly, Franchise players should feel that their concerns are actually being heard rather than simply being told to wait for another title update.

A patch may eventually correct a problem, but a patch cannot always restore the time that players have already lost.

If someone purchases Madden during early access and then has to wait days or weeks for important Franchise fixes before confidently beginning a league, that customer has effectively lost part of the benefit they paid extra to receive.

That should matter.

I understand that modern video games are extremely complicated and that bugs will happen. I am not expecting Madden to be absolutely perfect. I also understand that developers have to balance many different game modes, features, platforms, and technical challenges.

What I am asking for is accountability, communication, and equal consideration for the Franchise community.

Franchise Mode is not a side feature to the people who primarily play it.

For us, Franchise Mode is Madden.

It is where we spend hundreds of hours.

It is where friendships and rivalries are created.

It is where leagues develop their own history.

It is where commissioners dedicate significant amounts of personal time to creating organized communities around your game.

It is one of the experiences that keeps many customers purchasing Madden every single year.

That community deserves to feel supported.

When customers continue paying premium prices while encountering recurring problems, delayed fixes, and limited communication, eventually the issue becomes bigger than one bug or one patch. It becomes a question of trust.

Players begin asking themselves:

Why should I continue paying $100 or more for early access if I still have to wait for Franchise Mode to be fixed?

Why should my league begin immediately if a major patch may change or repair important parts of the mode shortly afterward?

Why should Franchise players continue believing that next year will be different when many of the same frustrations seem to return?

Those are questions EA Sports and the Madden NFL team should take seriously.

I want to be clear that I am writing this because I am a fan of Madden and want the game to succeed. If I did not care about the game, I would simply stop playing without saying anything.

The frustration comes from caring.

Football fans want Madden to represent the depth, strategy, competition, roster management, team building, and unpredictability that make the NFL so enjoyable. Franchise Mode has tremendous potential to deliver that experience.

The community should not have to choose between loving Madden and constantly being frustrated with it.

Going forward, I would like to see EA Sports make a stronger commitment to Franchise players, including more extensive Franchise testing before release, better communication regarding known issues, faster responses to serious Franchise problems, clearer information about upcoming patches, greater transparency regarding Franchise development, and meaningful engagement with the Franchise community throughout the entire Madden cycle—not only during marketing before release.

I would also encourage EA Sports to recognize the unique importance of online Franchise commissioners. Commissioners often become unofficial administrators, customer-service representatives, schedulers, rule enforcers, content creators, and technical troubleshooters for their leagues. When Madden has problems, commissioners are often the people who have to explain those problems to 20, 25, or 32 other paying customers.

Supporting commissioners ultimately supports the Madden community itself.

I have invested my money, my time, and my loyalty into this franchise because I genuinely enjoy football and what Madden can provide when everything is working correctly. However, as a paying customer and dedicated Franchise player, I should not consistently feel as though the mode I primarily purchase the game for is an afterthought.

When someone pays premium pricing for a product—especially approximately $100 for an edition offering early access—they should feel confident that they are receiving a premium experience.

Right now, as a Franchise user, I do not feel that way.

I am asking EA Sports and the Madden NFL development team to listen to the Franchise community—not simply acknowledge us, but genuinely listen to us.

Hear the commissioners.

Hear the longtime Franchise players.

Hear the customers who purchase Madden every year.

Hear the people organizing 32-user leagues.

Hear the players who have waited through patch after patch because they still believe Madden Franchise Mode can become something special.

We have continued supporting Madden.

We are asking Madden to support us in return.

I hope this message is taken as constructive criticism from a customer who wants a better experience rather than simply another complaint. I want to continue enjoying Madden. I want to be excited about purchasing the game. I want early access to actually feel like early access. I want to start a Franchise without wondering whether my league should wait for the next patch.

Most importantly, I want Franchise players to feel like a valued part of the Madden community.

Please give Franchise Mode—and the people who continue supporting it—the attention, communication, stability, and respect that this community deserves.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns. I sincerely hope that EA Sports considers this feedback and makes a stronger commitment to its Franchise community moving forward.

Respectfully,

Kendrick Harris

Longtime Madden NFL Fan & Franchise Mode Player