Madden 17 Franchise Mode - Membership limitation

I'm trying to continue a franchise that I had previously started.  When I try to load it, I get the following message "An Xbox live membership limitation does not allow you to access this feature.  See http.//help.ea.com/article/not-able-to-connect-to-online-play for additional details".  I double checked and my console does have a good internet connection.  I don't have a paid subscription for Xbox live, but do I really need that just to continue what I've already started in Franchise Mode?   I've never had this error message come up before.