The 2K football games were superior at the time. Then they dropped their price significantly ($20 for 2k5 after 2k4 was a success) and EA decided they couldn't

The 2K football games were superior at the time. Then they dropped their price significantly ($20 for 2k5 after 2k4 was a success) and EA decided they couldn't compete. So that deal was signed so that they wouldn't have to. And thus I stopped buying NFL games. Interesting that ESPN doesn't seem to mention this in the article considering their name and properties were used for the 2K games.