For decades, sports fans have taken a break from the pressures of supporting their teams by immersing themselves in video games. As consoles and technology have advanced, the complexity of these titles has increased.
This constant need to adapt to a rapidly evolving industry has led many game developers to struggle and ultimately fail over the years.
However, Football Manager – arguably the most intricate sports game – has managed to thrive in this competitive landscape. The series began in 1992 with the release of Championship Manager, where the objective is to manage a football club, handling everything from tactics and budgets to transfers and training plans.
Last year’s edition became the most-played title in the series’ history, boasting 7 million players by February 2024. However, building on this success has proven challenging, as Sports Interactive, the developer, announced last month that Football Manager 25 has been delayed until March next year.
The primary reason for this delay, which marks the second postponement for the game, is Sports Interactive’s ambition to enhance it significantly by switching to a new game engine, Unity.
Sponsorship concerns
As Malph Minns, Managing Director of Strive Sponsorship, explains, “Sports Interactive has a number of licence agreements in place with the likes of the Premier League, EFL, National League, UEFA, etc.”
The length of this delay has surprised many fans and caught them off guard. However, there are concerns that it could affect Sports Interactive’s licensing deals. Minns notes, “Some are single-year deals (e.g. EFL) and some are multi-year deals (e.g. Premier League). The delay in product launch could have different impacts based on the tenure of each agreement, but the impact is likely to be largely the same.”
Licensing agreements are a crucial aspect that sets sports games apart from one another and played a significant role in EA’s dominance over Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer for many years.
This year was set to bring some exciting changes in this area as well. In June, Sports Interactive announced a four-year deal with the Premier League, a partnership that Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive, stated they “have always wanted to work with” since the game’s inception.
Minns further elaborates on the potential implications of the delay, stating, “Broadly speaking, licence agreements often have a clause that obliges the licensee (Football Manager 25 in this case) to use the licence within a certain period.
“This is to stop companies from just blocking competitors from doing stuff but also to ensure the licensee helps build the brand for the licensor.” He highlights that, depending on their contracts, a delay could technically breach these agreements.
Despite these concerns, Minns expresses optimism, noting, “I think it unlikely there will be any licence termination discussions happening. Sports Interactive has a good record and a clear and credible reason for the delay, and there is limited opportunity for the leagues to monetise by licensing to anyone else.”
However, he warns that “renewal discussions (e.g. with the EFL) may contain tighter provisions and higher penalties for future agreements as some trust will have been lost, and the licensor will want to ensure they are adequately protected from the same happening again.”
Effects on the wider community
Interestingly, the game developer has encountered similar situations before, which some of the more veteran fans of the series may recall. In 2002, Championship Manager 4 was originally set for release in late 2002 but was postponed until the following March.
While that delay may have disappointed some players at the time, it doesn’t compare to the impact of this current delay. Sports Interactive will undoubtedly face a revenue loss, but other stakeholders are also affected.
Among those impacted are content creators who make a living by entertaining audiences through playing Football Manager—whether through live streaming or posting videos on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Like many mainstream, well-crafted games, Football Manager has built a substantial player base, as shown by its statistics. Over the years, it has also gained a dedicated, almost cult-like following.
Content creators have been instrumental in generating this widespread attention and passion for the game, and some of them will suffer due to this delay.
TomFM, a YouTuber with over 200,000 subscribers, expressed his views in a video: “From a selfish point of view, it is my job to make videos on Football Manager. If they release a game that is half-baked, broken, rubbish in November and you guys aren’t interested in watching it, that’s my career over.”
He continued, “So from my point of view, delaying it so it is actually right is the right decision, although I am really disappointed in this news.”
Commenting on how this will impact his content strategy, TomFM noted that he now has to plan an additional five months of content for FM24, something he feels he can manage. He added, “I do like to think that people who watch my videos are not there because it’s specifically Football Manager; Football Manager is the vehicle for me to tell a story.”
However, he also expressed concerns about potential viewer fatigue and the impact this may have on the successor of Football Manager 25.
At this time, Sports Interactive has not indicated whether this delay will affect the release of future titles.
