Ray Rice was kicked off the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL in real life on Monday. Now the disgraced running back is set to be kicked off EA Sports’ Madden video games, as well. The news was first broken by Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo.)
“With Ray Rice’s indefinite suspension from the NFL, he will be removed from Madden NFL 15,” EA Sports head of corporate communications John Reseburg said via email. “This roster change will take place by this Friday.”
The news of the star’s banishment from Madden comes along with news that Nike has also dropped Rice from their sponsorship roster, per ESPN’s Darren Rovell. The loss of Rice will like have less of an effect on Nike’s bottom line, though, compared to Rice’s. Per Forbes:
Nike is the official uniform supplier for the NFL. They will likely get stuck with some Rice jerseys that will have to be destroyed. However, given the poor play last year by Rice and the Ravens, as well as the length of time since the story broke, Nike had time to adjust inventory down and mitigate clearance.
Ray Rice also endorsed Nike footwear. Most football shoe deals are nominal in cost. Nike did not use Rice much in marketing, so there is no real loss there.
