On the second day..

Officially licensed video games.

Why on earth is EA sports allowed to purchase the rights to the NFL and the NFLPA? I mean 2K sports made a much better game, and the franchise of football is too great to be made by one developer. It's not fair in my opinion. 

--Graphics--

The Madden franchise has some pretty impressive graphics today. The '09 versions are stunning visuals compared to the '99 that I have on N64. This seems to be the main proponent for all Madden praisers in the debate. Let's compare these stills from EA's "Madden 2005" and 2K's "ESPN NFL 2K5"

Madden '05

and ESPN NFL 2K5

So as you can see, neither graphics are superior. That would be the only thing the Madden Franchise has going for it. 

Winner: draw

--Uniform Capabilities--

Madden '05:

Each team comes with a home and an away as well as the ability to make a custom uniform. The latter feature was reportedly riddled with problems and many people thought the programmers rushed the feature to production. 

ESPN 2K5:

Each team comes with a home and an away as well as 3 alternates, in many cases throwbacks to older looks/franchises (see Houston Oilers/Texans)

Winner: ESPN 2K5

--Gameplay--

Madden '05:

Franchise mode with a player's morale affecting in game performance. The introduction of the hit-stick was an addition to Madden '05 as well as the "playmaker" feature. New "Create-a-Fan" mode was added so that the user could create a fan to have put in the stands based on their favorite team. And finally the "Storyline Central" feature was added so that you could newspapers of you're home team and stay up-to-date with in-game stats.

ESPN 2K5:

Chris Berman does voice work for this year. He does a pre-, post-, and halftime show for each game with a virtual Berman sitting at the news desk.  New "V.I.P." mode tracks you're playing style as well as pit's you against celebrity teams (Carmen Electra's "Shock" is the first opponent). Later, you have the option of playing against yourself. The V.I.P. mode comes with the Crib, which was not new, but boosted in the 2K5 version. You have you're own house to customize and fill with trophies of you're achievements. Finally, the 2K5 version was ESPN's 25th Anniversary, this included the ability to replay historical football games or moments. Something that was featured in the Madden '09 game.

Winner: clearly 2K5.

--Soundtrack--

Madden '05:

Here

ESPN 2K5:

customizable. you can add you're own songs to be played after a TD, INT, Fumble, Random, etc. As well as Menu music. 

Winner: without a doubt ESPN 2K5. 

So why was EA sports allowed to buy the NFL license when ESPN 2K series was WAAAY superior?