Super Bowl Rivals Come Together for ‘Madden 22’

Super Bowl LV pitted a rising superstar against an NFL legend. Now, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady will face off again on the cover of EA’s “Madden 22.”

It is the second cover of the iconic video game for both quarterbacks and the first two-player cover since the 2010 edition.

The two signal callers possess the biggest brands in the sport right now. 

• They are the NFL’s top two earners off the field, per Forbes, with Brady pocketing $31 million and Mahomes $26 million in endorsements for the 12 months ending May 1. Brady’s total earnings of $76 million placed ninth among all athletes, and Mahomes was 15th with $54.5 million.
• Brady launched media company 199 Productions in 2020 and has a lifestyle brand, TB12, as well as an NFT company called Autograph. His sponsorships include Under Armour, T-Mobile, and Fanatics.
• Mahomes has invested in WHOOP and Hyperice. His sponsors include adidas, Biosteel, and “Madden” producer Electronic Arts.

In-game transactions for EA’s “Ultimate Team” games, “Madden NFL 21,” “FIFA 21,” and “NHL 21,” brought in $1.6 billion of the company’s $5.6 billion in revenue in the fiscal year ending March 31. 

The game’s AI will adjust how players perform in the game based on their real-world results for the 2021 season. That could affect Brady or Mahomes, should either fall victim to the “Madden curse,” a phenomenon dating back to 1998 in which the game’s cover athlete gets injured the following year.