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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Electronic Arts Inc ]. (NASDAQ:EA) and ESPN announced today the 32 fan-selected NFL players who will advance in the [ EA SPORTS ]a" [ Madden NFL 13 ]Cover Vote. The announcement follows a two week play-in round, during which time fans voted between two teammates in matchups for each NFL team on the SportsNation Facebook page. Today, winners from each matchup moved on to the official cover vote bracket. Fans can vote for their favorite cover athlete candidate from their computer or mobile phones at [ ESPN.com/MaddenVote ] through April 25.

"Our collaboration with ESPN and SportsNation helped elevate the campaign to new heights last year and weare thrilled to team up again on this award-winning program."

To kick off the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote bracket debate, a SportsNationaMadden Cover Vote Speciala will air tonight on ESPN 2 from 6-7 p.m. ET. Every Wednesday throughout the campaign, fans can tune in to SportsNation at 5 p.m. ET for an in-depth discussion about the latest voting results and to see which players have advanced to the next round. The tournament will culminate with the reveal of the Madden NFL 13 cover athlete on SportsNation on April 25, the night before the 2012 NFL Draft.

The results of the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote play-in round are:

Among the 32 players are past Super Bowl winners including Victor Cruz and Aaron Rodgers; perennial Pro Bowl players Larry Fitzgerald and Drew Brees; and some of the most dominant players in the NFL such as Troy Polamalu and Jared Allen. During the first ever play-in round, fan voting resulted in upsets like LeSean McCoy surpassing Michael Vick who was a finalist in last yearas award-winning Madden NFL 12 Cover Vote competition.

aEvery football fan has an opinion on who should be on the Madden NFL cover, which was highly visible given the overwhelming response and debate that ensued during last yearas campaign. Weare proud to once again put the fate of the gameas cover in our fansa hands and let them decide who is worthy of becoming the Madden NFL 13 cover athlete,a said director of marketing Anthony Stevenson. aOur collaboration with ESPN and SportsNation helped elevate the campaign to new heights last year and weare thrilled to team up again on this award-winning program.a

aSports fans are embracing the new structure of the Madden NFL 13 cover vote and the response has been tremendous for the play-in round, which gives each teamas fans an increased voice in the player selected for the vote,a said Jamie Horowitz, Vice President, Original Programming and Production, ESPN. aSportsNation has the most engaged social audience across the ESPN network, and enabling them to share their votes across Facebook was an ideal way to tap into some of footballas most passionate fans.a

The Madden NFL13 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 and SportsNation. Last year, nearly 13 million votes were logged through ESPNSportsNation.com online and via the mobile web, the most ever for an ESPN cross-platform activation, which witnessed 10^th seeded Peyton Hillis (Browns, RB) winning the honor to grace the cover of Madden NFL 12.

To ensure their favorite player advances to the next round of this yearas competition, fans are encouraged to vote daily and tweet their picks using #MyMaddenCoverVote on Twitter. Beginning March 22 at 9:00 a.m. ET, fans can also visit the [ Madden NFL Facebook page ] to fill out their own Madden NFL 13 cover athlete bracket to compete against their friends for the chance to win Super Bowl tickets and copies of Madden NFL 13. Visit [ www.facebook.com/EASPORTSMaddenNFL ] for Official Rules.

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 the Madden NFL 13 Cover Vote please visit [ http://maddennfl13.newslinevine.com ] or [ www.info.ea.com ].

NFL Players Incorporated facilitated all player participation, most notably through the use of a new mobile app developed in partnership with [ Playmark, Inc ]. that allows players to quickly and easily record videos to share with their fans online.

EA SPORTSa" is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital experiences. EA SPORTS delivers experiences that ignite the emotions of sport through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL hockey, NBA basketball, NCAA Football, Fight Night boxing, EA SPORTS MMA and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR golf, and EA SPORTS Active.

For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit [ www.easports.com ] to connect, share and compete.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. The Companyas game franchises are offered as both packaged goods products and online services delivered through Internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones and tablets. EA has more than 100 million registered players and operates in 75 countries.

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 Simsa", Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speeda", Battlefielda", and Mass Effecta". More information about EA is available at [ http://info.ea.com ].

EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Active, The Sims and Need for Speed are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Mass Effect is a trademark of EA International (Studio and Publishing) Ltd. Battlefield is a trademark of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. John Madden, NFL, FIFA, NHL, NBA, NCAA, Tiger Woods, and PGA TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. Twitter is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Officially Licensed Product of NFL PLAYERS Incorporated.

About SportsNation

SportsNation is a live sports television show born from the Internet, fueled by fan interaction and focused on fun. The show, which has the youngest and most male audience on the ESPN network, features discussions of the dayas hottest sports topics but also smaller stories that generate buzz on the Web but are overlooked by other shows. Feeding off the theory that if two heads are better than one, 200,000 heads are better than two, SportsNation engages hundreds of thousands of sports fans across the country via ESPN.comas SportsNation page ([ http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/ ]).

About ESPN Games and EA

ESPNas long-standing relationship with EA produces deep brand integrations into console gaming titles such as EA SPORTS NCAA Football 12 and Fight Night Champion. Additionally, the relationship in 2011 produced the biggest ESPN poll vote ever for the Madden NFL 12 cover vote, logging nearly 13 million votes, the most ESPN votes ever for a joint collaboration. The Emmy award-winning EA Virtual Playbook also most recently extended to boxing and golf in 2011.