Eric Bischoff Reveals Why WCW Left THQ For EA Sports

On the latest episode of 83 Weeks, Eric Bischoff talked about the business decision behind WCW moving its video game license from the popular developer THQ to the industry giant Electronic Arts (EA) in the late 90s. You can check out some highlights below:

On the move: “I can give you 5 million reasons why we made that decision. [chuckles] Because the CEO of EA — I think it was the CEO or the president at that time — came to an event and presented me with a really cool EA Sports jacket. And in fact, similarly, a facsimile $5 million check representing the advance against royalties, which was a real high watermark for WCW. I’m sure WWE had done many deals at that level. But again, their licensing and merchandising division was so much more mature than ours. And they had had so many years of success previous to us finally cracking through and getting a company like EA Sports interested in us.”

On other factors: “It was not a — I mean, can I give you 5 million reasons in advance why they did it or why we did it, or why we did it. But it wasn’t an easy decision. There were a lot of people that were very committed to THQ. THQ jumped into bed with us at a fairly risky time business-wise. They saw value, they saw growth, obviously opportunity with Hulk and all that. But still, we were a kind of somewhat emerging brand at that time. And to leave that opportunity and make that big jump was not without debate internally.

“But the decision — and it was one that I made, that’s why I remember the debate — was not just the $5 million advance which was for me mind boggling at the time. We’d be lucky to get $100,000 advances in some cases, or people would be high-fiving themselves and looking for a Christmas bonus over a $50,000 advance. So a $5 million advance that represented, to me at least, that our business has reached an entirely new level. But it wasn’t easy. There was some debate. There were some unhappy people, particularly at THQ. But it was also the technology, and the potential for growth in the business that the technology that EA Sports had in addition to all of their other big titles. You are who you hang with so to speak, in life and in business. And for WCW to be in business with EA Sports, even without that big advance, still represented growth. So it was a business decision. It wasn’t because of anything THQ did or didn’t do. It was because EA Sports represented significant growth in terms of technology and advancement in the gameplay, as well as just their catalog in their marketing and promotion. But it was a tough it was a tough decision.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.