This Year’s Campaign Expands to 64 Players – With Play-In Round Featuring Two Athletes From Each NFL Team Represented in Head-to-Head Matchups
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EA Sports and ESPN announced today the return of the award-winning Madden NFL Cover Vote campaign, where fans can cast their vote for the next athlete to grace the cover of one of the highest-selling videogame franchises in North America. Last year, nearly 13 million votes were cast through ESPNSportsNation.com and ESPN mobile in both companies’ most successful cross-platform activation. Tenth-seeded Cleveland Browns running back, Peyton Hillis, trucked through the six week competition all the way to the ultimate end zone – the Madden NFL 12 cover.
This year’s competition will incorporate more athletes and more chances to vote as the field has been expanded to 64 NFL players, putting even more control in the hands of the fans. Beginning today through March 21, fans can visit the SportsNation Facebook page to choose among the 64 candidates in a play-in round (each matchup features two players from the same NFL team) to advance to the official 32-player, seeded tournament. The winners of the play-in round will be unveiled with the official seeded, 32-player bracket on March 21 on ESPN’s “Madden Cover Vote Special” from 5-6p.m. EST. To ensure their favorite player advances to the next round, fans are encouraged to vote daily and tweet their picks using #MyMaddenCoverVote on Twitter. Every Wednesday between March 21 and April 25, fans can tune into SportsNation on ESPN2 at 5p.m. EST to check out the latestMadden NFL 13 Cover Vote standings.
In addition to the SportsNation Facebook page, fans will be able to vote in the play-in round via the open Web through widgets embedded on blogs, websites and more. Each widget features an individual match-up for each of the 32 total teams in the league. For the cover vote from March 21-April 25, all voting must be cast at ESPN.com/MaddenVote.
The star-studded list of candidates participating in the play-in round features past Super Bowl winners, perennial Pro Bowlers and some of the most popular players in the NFL including Drew Brees, Arian Foster and Rob Gronkowski. The full list of matchups featured in the play-in round are:
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AFC |
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| Ravens | Terrell Suggs vs. Ray Rice | Jets | Mark Sanchez vs. Darrelle Revis |
| Steelers | Troy Polamalu vs. Ben Roethlisberger | Bills | Stevie Johnson vs. Ryan Fitzpatrick |
| Browns | Joe Thomas vs. Joe Haden | Dolphins | Reggie Bush vs. Brandon Marshall |
| Bengals | Andy Dalton vs. AJ Green | Patriots | Wes Welker vs. Rob Gronkowski |
| Texans | Arian Foster vs. Andre Johnson | Chargers | Phillip Rivers vs. Antonio Gates |
| Colts | Dwight Freeney vs. Robert Mathis | Broncos | Tim Tebow vs. Von Miller |
| Jaguars | Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Blaine Gabbert | Chiefs | Dwayne Bowe vs. Derrick Johnson |
| Titans | Jake Locker vs. Chris Johnson | Raiders | Sebastian Janikowski vs. Shane Lechler |
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NFC |
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| Bears | Jay Cutler vs. Matt Forte | Rams | Chris Long vs. Brandon Lloyd |
| Lions | Calvin Johnson vs. Matt Stafford | 49ers | Vernon Davis vs. Patrick Willis |
| Vikings | Percy Harvin vs. Jared Allen | Seahawks | Marshawn Lynch vs. Earl Thomas |
| Packers | Aaron Rodgers vs. Clay Matthews | Cardinals | Larry Fitzgerald vs. Patrick Peterson |
| Falcons | Matt Ryan vs. Julio Jones | Eagles | Michael Vick vs. LeSean McCoy |
| Saints | Drew Brees vs. Jimmy Graham | Giants | Victor Cruz vs. Jason Pierre-Paul |
| Panthers | Cam Newton vs. Steve Smith | Cowboys | Jason Witten vs. DeMarcus Ware |
| Buccaneers | Josh Freeman vs. LeGarrette Blount | Redskins | Brian Orakpo vs. Ryan Kerrigan |
The Madden NFL 13 cover vote marks the third-consecutive year that EA SPORTS has asked fans to help shape the face of the Madden NFL franchise through a cover athlete voting campaign. It also marks the second year of its collaboration with ESPN’s SportsNation.
Madden NFL 13 is developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon. For more information about Madden NFL 13, please visit: http://www.ea.com/madden-nfl. To download assets pertaining to Madden NFL 13 please visithttp://maddennfl13.newslinevine.com.
All player participation has been facilitated by National Football League Players Incorporated, the licensing and marketing subsidiary of the NFL Players Association.
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In fiscal 2011, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.6 billion. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for critically acclaimed, high-quality blockbuster franchises such as The Sims™, Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speed™, Battlefield™, and Mass Effect™. More information about EA is available athttp://info.ea.com.
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