December 13, 2004 01:34 PM Eastern Time 

Eugene Williams Wins Third Annual EA SPORTS Madden Challenge, Jesse Hanninen Wins Inaugural EA SPORTS NCAA Challenge

32-City, Nationwide Tournament on Madden NFL 2005 Culminated in Las Vegas with a $50,000 Visa Card and a Trip to the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl

After four months of fierce competition in the 3rd annual EA SPORTS(TM) Madden Challenge and the inaugural EA SPORTS(TM) NCAA(R) Challenge tournaments from Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS), Eugene "Big Gene" Williams, Washington, D.C. Champion, became the National 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Champion on Madden NFL 2005 and Jesse Hanninen, of Florida State University, is the 2004 NCAA Challenge Champion on NCAA(R) Football 2005. Williams beat out more than 16,000 competitors in 32 cities who competed for more than four months nationwide. Winners from each of the Madden Challenge and NCAA Challenge regional tournaments were flown to Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for the respective 'Finals' competitions. Williams received a $50,000 VISA card and will attend the famed 11th Annual EA SPORTS(TM) Madden Bowl(TM) presented by Xbox Live(TM) on February 3, 2005, held every year during Super Bowl week, in Jacksonville, Florida. Hanninen received a $10,000 check for winning the EA SPORTS NCAA Challenge.

The 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge ran every weekend from August 14-November 28, 2004 and is the only Electronic Arts sanctioned public tournament competition in the celebrated 15-year history of the EA SPORTS Madden NFL football video game franchise. Williams defeated Antoin "Pretty Boy" Williams, New Orleans regional winner, 37-27. More than 1000 students at 16 campuses nationwide competed in the 2004 NCAA Challenge. Hanninen defeated Michael Hawkins of Clemson University, 26-5.

The 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Regional Tournament Winners included:

                         CITY CHAMP       AGE   Hometown

Kyle Cooper              Minneapolis       24   Milford, OH
Tim Thomas                Green Bay        18   Menomaonhee Falls, WI
Johnta Nelson              Chicago         16   Chicago, IL
Greg James              Indianapolis       24   Shreveport, LA
David Seitchick            Detroit         20   Margate, NJ
Mike McAnany              Cleveland        19   New York, NY
Robert Wright            Cincinnati        28   Euclid, OH
Toby Merchant            Pittsburgh        28   Oakland, CA
Toshiba Sharon             Buffalo         25   Bear, Delaware
Nathan Stanton             Boston          20   New York, NY
Anthony Brinson           New York         15   Clementon, NJ
Robert Warren           Philadelphia       16   Washington, DC
Eugene Williams         Washington DC      20   Philadelphia, PA
Curtis Knight             Charlotte        23   Atlanta, GA
Anthony Mims               Atlanta         22   Norman, OK
William "Billy" Wolf    Jacksonville       17   Tampa, FL
Thomas Tsanadis             Miami          23   Wellington, FL
Terryl Samuel               Tampa          15   Nashville, TN
Elmar Kuli-Zade           Nashville        17   Brentwood, TN
Paul Wierzba              St. Louis        17   McHenry, IL
Antoin Williams          New Orleans       22   Houston, TX
Sherman Jameson            Houston         19   Houston, TX
Matt Cardell               Dallas          15   Colleyville, TX
Troy Brown               San Antonio       21   Houston, TX
Lincoln Morris           Kansas City       23   Nashville, TN
Lamar Mathews              Denver          24   Rochester, MN
Allen Johnson              Phoenix         23   Ontario, CA
David Grant               Las Vegas        26   St. Petersburg, FL
David Stepney             San Diego        21   Pomona, CA
Luis Gonzalez            Los Angeles       26   Bakersfield, CA
Paul Ziegler               Seattle         22   Bellevue, WA
Montello Jones          San Francisco      23   Sacramento CA

Madden NFL 2005, which is jointly licensed by PLAYER INC. and the NFL, has sold more than four million copies so far this year on seven platforms and Madden NFL football is America's best-selling sports video game with over 40 million copies sold in its 15 year history. The game Madden NFL Football is the only videogame to be honored and displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Reebok, Champs Sports, Best Buy and Visa were the official sponsors of the 2004 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to NFL Youth Education Town (YET), an official NFL charity that provides high-tech educational and recreational centers designed to improve the academic, physical fitness, and job-related skills of at-risk youth. For additional information please check out www.maddenchallenge.com.

EA SPORTS(TM) is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles and franchises include Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL(R), NBA LIVE basketball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR(R), MVP Baseball(TM), NCAA(R) Football and NASCAR(R) racing. The EA SPORTS home page is www.easports.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, EA posted revenues of $2.96 billion for fiscal 2004. The company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers and the Internet. In 2003, EA had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. Electronic Arts markets its products under three brand names: EA SPORTS(TM), EA GAMES(TM) and EA SPORTS BIG(TM). EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

Electronic Arts, EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, EA GAMES, John Madden Football, Madden Bowl and MVP Baseball are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Team names/logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. Officially licensed product of PLAYERS INC. www.nflplayers.com. NBA, NCAA, NASCAR, NHL, MLB and FIFA are trademarks of their respective owners. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.