EA Still Partying At The Super Bowl, Despite Layoffs

With the economy in a rut, it’s hard to justify fabulous Super Bowl bashes when companies are bleeding cash and slashing headcount. But Electronic Art’s is proudly soldiering on with its festivities, Madden Bowl-style.

The publisher is just one of a handful of corporate entities going all out at Super Bowl XLIII with Madden Bowl XV, a select group of party hosts that includes dude-centric media outlets like Maxim and ESPN. EA’s annual, invite-only event pits NFL players against each other in the latest edition of the game, whilst freeloaders enjoy free snacks and booze.

EA’s plan to throw a Madden-pimping party “was never in question,” according to EA Sports bossman Peter Moore, reports CNBC. Madden Bowl XV goes down this Thursday in Tampa, Florida, 90 miles southwest of Madden NFL developer EA Tiburon, which recently saw cuts.

Sure, cash-blowing parties like Madden Bowl are probably harder to justify if you’ve just been given walking papers from Tiburon, or almost any EA developer. But one would think that with over 5 million copies of Madden NFL 09 sold last year, they’ve worked the party fund into the budget.

Where Have All The Super Bowl Parties Gone? [SportsBiz]