The NFL and its partners are continuing to make an example of Ray Rice with the announcements of several cancelled business endorsements including Rice’s removal from EA Sports’ popular football video game Madden NFL 15.
The sequence of lost business deals for Ray Rice comes after a video was released of Ray punching, and knocking out, then-fiance Janay Rice during an altercation in the elevator of an Atlantic City casino. Once the footage was released, the Baltimore Ravens cut Ray from their roster, and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.
With Ray Rice’s indefinite suspension from the NFL, he will be removed from Madden NFL 15. The roster change will take place by this Friday.
— EA SPORTS Madden NFL (@EAMaddenNFL) September 9, 2014
Rice will be removed on Friday from Madden 15 as part of the weekly updates provided by EA Sports during the NFL season.
Nike spokesman KeJuan Wilkins told ESPN.com that Ray Rice was no longer a part of Nike which makes him one of the few athletes to lose an endorsement deal with shoe and apparel giant, other include Lance Armstrong, Justin Gatlin, and Michael Vick.
Rice also lost endorsement deals with Vertimax and BodyArmor, both of whom made the decision to let go of Rice months ago.
"After internal discussion about the events that transpired, we determined that a future relationship with Ray did not align with our goals as a company," said Vertimax CEO Michael Weherell during a statement in June.
Ray Rice’s jerseys have been removed from the shelves of sports retailers around the country, and are no longer available for sale at the NFL Shop. The Baltimore Ravens are allowing fans to swap Rice’s official uniforms for other merchandise. On Monday, Hersh’s Pizza and Drinks, a Baltimore restaurant, offered free pizza to customers in exchange for Rice jerseys, and promised to donate $2,70 to a local organization that assists victims of domestic violence.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that Rice's reinstatement into the league is a possibility if “we (the NFL) are fully confident that he is addressing this issue clearly.”
