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John Madden is a legend. We could end the news about John Madden right here and now, and that first sentence would suffice, however, what we’re reporting is that John Madden 2011 by EA Sports is dominating in sales all across the country.

Sales, according to pastapadre.com have jumped to 893K. That is a rise of 26% there and accounts for the entirety of the sales increase for Madden 11. Total sales of 1.814 million in August for Madden 11 compares favorably to the 1.593 of Madden 10 and 1.643 of Madden 09.

There are several contributing factors that have caused the rise in sales. The first that has to be considered is the effect of Madden 10. That game had strong word of mouth and seemed to reestablish the series’ credibility. In large part sales of yearly sports titles are indictments on the previous release or confidence towards a series. Madden 11 was set up to succeed.

Madden 11 also had some very influential pre-order deals. Walmart offered a $20 gift card, Amazon offered $20 off a future game purchase, and Gamestop provided 20K coins ($6.67 value). Also there is the “Online Pass” which pressures people into buying new rather than used with online play access. Post-release there were sales to account for that reduced initial cost in order to draw more consumers in. Essentially the game was never “full price” and that makes for a tempting purchase considering how much value Madden traditionally provides. The game also had a very strong marketing campaign that connected the emotion of the game with the upcoming NFL season.