EA SPORTS Names Ayan Tariq Champion of Madden NFL 07 at Madden Challenge Finals Winner Takes Homes $100,000 REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2007--Ayan Tariq (aka Fool) from Ridgefield Park, NJ defeated 31 gamers from around the world to take home $100,000 in prize money, bragging rights and be crowned the world's best MADDEN NFL 07 player during the fifth annual EA SPORTS™ Madden Challenge Finals Tournament, presented by Best Buy, on Feb. 8 in Honolulu. Tariq, the winner of the Pittsburgh, PA tournament, defeated William Wolf (aka Secret), winner of the Minneapolis, MN competition, in a showdown at the Finals. Held every year during Pro Bowl week, the EA SPORTS Madden Challenge Finals tournament from Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS) pits the winners of international, regional and online semifinal competitions against one another in an effort to nab the title and the cash prize. "It feels great to win! I think I am going to give the money to my mom," said Tariq upon receiving the $100,000 grand prize. In addition to the competitors, this year's event saw several NFL athletes in attendance: Chad Johnson, Antonio Gates, Derrick Brooks, Marshal Faulk, DeAngelo Hall, Roy Williams and Julian Peterson were there to show their support for the competitive spirit that gripped the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, the site of the Finals. The 2006 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge competitions ran regularly from Sept. 1 to Jan. 20 and is the only Electronic Arts sanctioned public tournament competition in the celebrated 17-year history of the EA SPORTS Madden NFL football video game franchise. In years past, the EA SPORTS Madden Challenge has been solely a U.S. event, but this year four international (London, Germany, Toronto, Mexico City) and two online tournaments were added, with those winners traveling to the Finals as well. The 2006 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge semifinal winners included: NAME CITY CHAMP AGE HOMETOWN Eric Velarde Denver, CO 18 West Covina, CA William Wolf Minneapolis, MN 19 Tampa Bay, FL Paul Wierzba Indianapolis, IN 19 Crystal Lake, IL Stephen White Chicago, IL 20 Bowie, MD Van Berardino Green Bay, MI 19 Napa, CA Anthony Brinson Detroit, MI 17 Clementon, NJ Haaruwn Brown Atlanta, GA 19 Mobile, AL Drexton Porter New Orleans, LA 23 Houston, TX Eugene Williams Cincinnati, OH 22 Philadelphia, PA Ayan Tariq Pittsburgh, PA 16 Ridgefield Park, NJ Shayan Tariq New Jersey 21 Ridgefield Park, NJ Jarvis Thomas New York, NY 19 Largo, MD William Ruski Baltimore, MD 19 Bayonne, NJ Robert Warren Washington, D.C. 18 District Heights, MD Brian Armstrong Charlotte, NC 21 Charlotte, NC Brian Delph Tampa, FL 23 Sandusky, OH Troy Brown Houston, TX 23 Houston, TX Antoin Williams Dallas, TX 24 Houston, TX Ryan Robinson Phoenix, AZ 16 Sacramento, CA Derek Kinder San Diego, CA 19 Napa, CA Marcus Carr Philadelphia, PA 19 Bowie, MD Jerry Ogans San Francisco, CA 17 San Francisco, CA Donald Mazzola Seattle, WA 21 Bellvue, WA Justin Chow Oakland, CA 21 Washington DC George Movesian Los Angeles, CA 21 Van Nuys, CA David Seithchik Boston, MA 22 Atlantic City, NJ Kris Newman Toronto, Canada 21 Toronto, Canada Rodrigo Cardoso Mexico City, MX 18 Mexico City, MX Jan Pressler Frankfurt, Germany 18 Munich, Germany Michael Turner London, England 21 London, England Marc Taylor Online 37 Seattle, WA LaDarren Banks Online 18 Tuscaloosa, AL Madden NFL 07, the best-selling football videogame franchise, which is jointly licensed by PLAYER INC. and the NFL, has sold more than 5 million copies (based on EA internal data) so far this year on 10 platforms. The Madden NFL football franchise has sold more than 51 million copies in its 16 year history. The game Madden NFL Football is the only videogame to be honored and displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Best Buy and Xbox were the official sponsors of the 2006 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™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world. Its top-selling titles and franchises include Madden NFL football, FIFA Soccer, NHL®, NBA LIVE basketball, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®, MVP Baseball™, NCAA® Football and NASCAR® 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, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. 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, 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, Tiger Woods, PGA TOUR and FIFA are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CONTACT: Electronic Arts Inc. Katherine Coulthart, Senior Publicist, EA SPORTS 407-386-4812 [email protected] Press Website: http://info.ea.com SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc..