EA is putting real ads inside EA Sports FC, Madden, and College Football

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Electronic Arts plans to include ads within its video games, similar to how commercials are shown during television broadcasts of sporting events.

For some time now, the company has been partnering with game franchises like EA Sports FC and Madden NFL for unique promotional deals. For example, Red Bull has created special team uniforms within the games, while Mountain Dew went further by designing a fully playable college football team – DEW University – including its own stadium and mascot.

On June 15th, EA launched EA Advertising, a new platform that lets brands easily purchase ad space in all of their games from a single location. This also allows them to make changes to their ad campaigns instantly.

EA Sports FC and Madden NFL are now official advertising platforms

According to EA, the in-game ads are designed to feel like a natural part of the world, not something that breaks your immersion.

Expect to see digital ads around the stadium – on rotating boards, as overlays on the scoreboard, and in banners that look just like those you see on TV during a live game. These ads are measured using standard industry practices and checked for quality by Integral Ad Science, the same company that verifies digital ads elsewhere.

EA Sports reports that a past partnership with Red Bull led to over 128 million matches played and 1.2 million in-game goals achieved. Lowe’s also saw success with branded challenges in several EA Sports games – including FC, Madden NFL, and College Football – resulting in almost a million games played and over 200,000 completed challenges. These impressive results convinced EA that offering branded in-game experiences could be a profitable venture.

EA has also upgraded the technology supporting these ads. They created their own advertising system and tools that work directly within their Frostbite game engine. This allows brands to run campaigns across several games through one central platform, simplifying the process compared to managing each game individually.

The EA SPORTS Partner Program is an exclusive offering for key brands like Visa and State Farm. It provides them with special access to major FIFA-related events, such as live broadcasts and the first look at player ratings.

For a detailed look at gameplay in EA Sports FC 26, check out our full review. And if you’re curious about how EA is using AI, we have a piece explaining their new AI-generated commentary voices.

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2026-06-15 16:49