EA Sports

Background

EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Initially a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) with pictures or endorsements with real commentators such as John Madden, it soon grew up to become a sub-label on its own, releasing game series such as FIFA, NHL, NBA Live and Madden NFL.

Contents

1st Logo (1991-1993)	2nd Logo (1992-1993)	3rd Logo (1992-2001)	4th Logo (Mid 1990's)	5th Logo (2000-2011)

1st Logo (1991-1993)

Logo: On a black background, we see the 1982 Electronic Arts logo (this time, the cube is pink, the sphere is gold and the pyramid is light blue with "ELECTRONIC ARTS" stacked below it), zooming in and through the screen then the EA logo appears once it's done. Then each square with a sports player zooms out into each corner of the screen. The gold square with a baseball player goes to the top left, the pink square with a golfer goes to the middle right, the purple square with a football player goes to the bottom center, the light blue square with a basketball player goes to the middle left, the orange square with an Olympic runner goes to the top right, the green square with a hockey player goes to the bottom right, the blue square with a tennis player goes to the top center, and the red square with a soccer player goes to the bottom left. Once that's finished, a second later, the EA logo turns into the EASN logo (a blue rectangle with "EASN" in a futuristic font with the "A" having a small jut at the left of it, on a white rectangle with "ELECTRONIC ARTS SPORTS NETWORK" stacked below it.) while all the sports pictures turn into one sport picture (depending on the game). Then the EASN logo zooms in through the screen, becoming a blue screen.

Variants:

The Genesis version has a different animation. The still EA logo doesn't zoom in and the pictures of sports players slide in instead. (Golfer slides into the middle right, Tennis Player slides into the top middle, Soccer Player slides into the bottom left, Baseball Player slides into the top right, Hockey Player slides into the bottom right, Runner slides into the top right, Football Player slides into the bottom center and Basketball Player slides into the middle left.) Then all the players turn into a Basketball Player. After the animation is finished, the EASN logo flashes on the EA logo.
On John Madden Football, all other sports pictures turn into a Football Player picture.
On PGA Tour Golf, all other sports pictures turn into a Golfer picture.
On basketball-related titles including Bulls Vs. Blazers, all other sports pictures turn into a Basketball Player picture.
On some later titles (including later copies of Bulls Vs. Blazers), the EASN logo is replaced by the EA Sports logo with "ELECTRONIC ARTS" below on a white square (see the 3rd logo). Plus on SNES, when the logo zooms in, the screen becomes red instead.

Technique: 16-bit animation.

Music/Sounds: A sports news report-like theme. While the players appear, a beat note plays each time the player zooms into a position.

Music/Sounds Variant: On Bulls Vs. Blazers, the beat note sound is different (which sounds like a basketball bouncing in a low tone).

Availability: Appears on Super NES versions of John Madden Football, PGA Tour Golf, and Bulls Vs. Blazers (the Genesis version has the EA Sports logo instead). Also seen on Bulls Vs. Lakers, Jordan vs. Bird: One-on-One, and Team USA Basketball for Genesis.

2nd Logo (1992-1993)

Logo: We see the EASN logo from before, but "EA" is now red while "SN" is blue. This time, it's rotating around. Each logo appears one by one from the top-left making way to the bottom-right. Plus, each logo is in all 9 corners of the screen.

Variants:

On the Super NES version of John Madden Football '93, the rotating EASN logo appears in a center. Plus, each EASN logo appears one-by-one from the top-left all the way around to the middle-left. Each EASN logo morphs into a blue square each with different sports pictures in gold style one-by-one. (Baseball on top-left, Tennis on top-middle, Golf on top-right, Hockey on middle-right, Basketball on bottom-right, Runner on bottom-middle, Soccer on bottom-left and Football Player on middle-left.) All sports pictures become a Football Player, who then throws the football like a Quarterback.
On the Genesis version of NHLPA Hockey '93, we see five hockey pucks (with the NHLPA logo) on a screen. Each puck has the EASN logo rotating around it.

Technique: 16-bit animation.

Music/Sounds: None or the game's title theme.

Availability: Appears on John Madden Football '93 for Super NES and Genesis. Also appears on NHLPA Hockey '93 for Genesis (although the Super NES version doesn't have the logo, it starts with the game's title).

3rd Logo (1992-2001)

File:E24.png
FIFA Soccer Manager Variant
Taken from FIFA 97.

Logo: On a white or black background, the letters "E", "A", and the word "SPORTS" fly in to the center. Then, "ELECTRONIC ARTS" appear below the logo in a block font.

Variants: There are a lot of variants of the logo, so we'll go by year of appearance:

1992:

PGA Golf Tour (Genesis): The first appearance of the logo, the "ELECTRONIC ARTS" text is in a generic sports font.

1993:

Bill Walsh College Football (Genesis): Each part of the logo appears one-by-one, with their appearance in sync with the sounds of tackling and a crowd cheering. The font for "ELECTRONIC ARTS" is also different for this year.
Bill Walsh College Football (SNES): The logo is in a shiny gradient, the "EA" letters flash gold once they go in place, and "ELECTRONIC ARTS" zooms out as well.
NBA Showdown: The logo is shiny, but the flash color is white and "SPORTS" also flashes. "ELECTRONIC ARTS" appears in a white rectangle.
Michael Jorden In Flight: The logo is horizontally arranged in 3D, along with the "ELECTRONIC ARTS" text which is in white/red. "presents" can be seen below in a similar style, and a 3D version of the EA logo at the time in red can be seen in the corner. All of this is in a blue gradient rectangle with a red border. The border closes.

1994:

FIFA International Soccer (SNES): The logo is in "3D" and has shines all over it. The pieces also flash in place, and the voiceover seems to be duplicated.
FIFA International Soccer (Game Gear): The thing has completely different animation, having 2 segmented halves of a blue "EA" pass over, leaving behind a red "EA". The standard text then fades in below. FIFA International Soccer (Sega CD): The logo is seen on a white rectangle attached to a floating soccer field in space. The entire thing is in 3D.
FIFA International Soccer (DOS) and John Madden Football (3DO): The logo is in 3D and on a black background. The "ELECTRONIC ARTS" text is missing.
FIFA International Soccer (3DO) and FIFA Soccer 96 (PSX): The logo zooms out onto a stone wall with a cubby carved for it one-by-one, followed by the "ELECTRONIC ARTS" name. The wall then cracks open with light, and the logo flies off, leaving a cut out for the camera to rotate and fly into.

1995:

Madden NFL '96 (SNES): The logo is back to the shiny gradient, and each part slides into place from all sides of the screen. The slogan "IT'S IN THE GAME" also appears below.
Madden NFL '96 (PSX): Over the main skyline intro, each part of the logo flies in, and the slogan, but in a different font, wipes in with burning effects. The logo stays on-screen for several seconds as a EA Sports helicopter comes by and checks it out before flying off. The logo then zooms into the camera via the "O".
FIFA Soccer 96 (SNES/32X): The logo is in 3D, still, and floating over a soccer field at a angle. The "SPORTS" text is also in an Arial font.
Toughman Contest (Genesis): The logo is in the same shiny gradient as some of the SNES logos, and it zooms in from the center.
Toughman Contest (32X): Same movement as before, but the logo is instead in 3D at an upwards facing angle.
NHL 96: Orange streaks fly by on a black background as the "EA" letters spin around in free space. As they start to come together, red streaks form up "SPORTS" and when they come together, a flash of rays appears briefly before the logo flips in and begins the intro sequence.
NBA Live 95: The logo is a silhouette illuminated by light from the back at first, before the screen flashes and brightens up the logo.

1996:

NBA Live 96: The logo appears as a neon sign zooming out as clips from NBA games play. The logo eventually fades in, along with "PRESENTS".
Andretti Racing (PSX) and Madden NFL 97 (PSX): At a stadium with an EA Sports zeppelin in the air, it zooms out to see it broadcasting to an EA Sports truck. The camera pans to it and above, revealing an satellite transferring the data to a EA Sports satellite, where the camera transitions to next. The satellite sends a beam of info to the surface, and we pan down to a suburban home's TV. The TV switches on to reveal the logo forming, complete with the slogan, before it shuts off.
FIFA Soccer 97: The animation plays like the earlier FIFA Soccer 96 (PSX) variant, but it's over a waving grey background with a stoney texture on it.
FIFA Soccer 97 (SNES/Genesis): The logo starts at a black background. When it fades to the logo, we see the EA Sports logo in 3D and in a white background. The logo fades to black.
NBA Live 97: Neon blue lines of a basketball fly in, shaking with afterimages before releasing sparks all over the place. It then turns to static, followed by a black marble background with NBA game clips being played in the background, barely visible. The EA Sports logo emerges from the center, covered in sparks, and bolts form the "ELECTRONIC ARTS" text. "PRESENTS" appears and flies over the logo.
NHL 97 (PSX/Saturn): We pass over the moon to reveal the Earth spinning. The planet burns into a soccer ball, followed by a baseball, a basketball, and then a hockey puck, all while it gets closer to the screen. The hockey puck has the EA Sports logo on its backside, which gains its colors after a second, and then a bright light shines behind it, eventually engulfing the background.
NHL 97 (PC): A metal place with flames is seen, with the transparent logo zooming in. The screen flashes, revealing the logo in its full colors and without flames on the plate.

1997:

Andretti Racing (Windows): The logo takes up the whole screen, and a URL appears below instead. The URL would appear on the normal logo from this point forwards.
FIFA Soccer 64: A brown plate drops down, and the logo parts zoom out onto it. The camera then tilts itself towards the screen.
FIFA Soccer Manager: We start off as a black background. Then the camera pans to the EA Sports logo, while everything is film deteriorated. It warps away when the white text "PRESENTS" appears before that warps away as well.
Madden NFL 98: The logo has a bumpy texture over it, and is in 3D.
NASCAR 98: The logo is 3D and is on a victory lane. Molly Hatchet's "Flirtin' With Disaster" can also be heard in the background.

Technique: 16-bit animation, later 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: A voice-over (Andrew Anthony) says "EA Sports - It's in the game." Sometimes, it's silent or the opening theme of the game or the game's title theme are heard. Starting in 1997, a dramatic three-note cymbal and bell tune with a choir may be heard alongside the voice-over.

Music/Sounds Trivia: Andrew Anthony got his voice-over role through EA asking one of his friends to advertise their sports game business. After he offered to record the now-iconic line, he didn't realize until much later (his son's friend came over with a new video game and he overheard his voice) that EA actually accepted his recording. Anthony was later hired as a voice-over for many EA Sports commercials throughout the 90's and early 2000s.

Availability: Very common, mainly because of the huge amount of EASN titles released in the early 90's.

Legacy: This logo marks the first appearance of the famous "It's in the game." voiceover.

4th Logo (Mid 1990's)

Logo: On a white background, we see the letters of "E" and "A" sliding in piece by piece. The word "SPORTS" fade in, and the text "ELECTRONIC ARTS" appear in a shadow effect.

Technique: 2D sprite animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as before.

Availability: Only seen on Rugby World Cup '95 and Australian Rugby League, both Genesis games."

5th Logo (2000-2011)

Logo: On a white background, the letters "E", "A" and "SPORTS" (with a slight alteration, as the "A" no longer has the jut and has an incomplete middle line) fly in, accompanied by a ring that surrounds the letters and spins slightly. The company URL and a trademark disclaimer in gray appear below.

Variants:

On Fight Night 2004 and the '05 EA Sports titles, the letters and circle in the original version are shinier.
A widescreen variant of the original version is seen on Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the PSP.
Starting in 2005, the logo was slightly updated. The ring spins a bit faster and is shinier and slightly shifted. Also, "SPORTS", the URL and trademark disclaimer are in a different font.
Another update was made in 2009. The logo is updated with a solid outline, and only the URL is shown below.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, but re-recorded to sound cleaner. Sometimes, only the name is announced.

Music/Sound Variants:

On the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of FIFA 08 and UEFA Euro 2008, the logo is silent.
On some games using the second updated version, quick whooshes are heard instead of the announcer.

Availability: The original variant was first seen on '01 EA Sports titles and was last shown on the Macintosh version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. The first updated version was first seen on NCAA Football 06. The second updated version first appeared on '09 EA Sports titles. After 2011, this logo seems to be retired, as EA Sports titles from that point onward use custom variants.

Legacy: It's a popular logo to the point where it has become a meme on the internet, mainly due to the voiceover.