It’s time for a blast from the past: Electric Football is back and better than ever. Complete with the NFL license, Electric Football is aiming to make a comeback, riding strong on a wave of nostalgia for the vibrating tabletop sports machine.
Tudor Games, the company behind Electric Football, has had an interesting history. Founded in 1947, Tudor has sold over 40 million Electric Football kits. Under the most recent ownership of Doug Strohm, Tudor looks to return to their former glory as a top toymaker.
“In the 60s and 70s, this was Madden to that generation of kids,” Strohm told iDigitalTimes at Toy Fair in New York City. Like Madden, Tudor also has a long relationship with the NFL.
“Tudor was the first one to have the NFL licence way back when,” Strohm said. Unfortunately, due to changing ownership, Tudor lost the license. Once Strohm bought Tudor four years ago, he made getting the license back a top priority.
“We’re the third owners of the company since 1947. We were able to get the license back about a year and a half ago after purchasing the company. It hasn’t been back for that long,” he said.
In that time, Strohm has made improvements to the game, bringing it into the 21st century. “We took the old metal games and recreated them with this high-impact polystyrene playing field,” Strohm said. This makes the new Electric Football much, much quieter than its notoriously loud predecessors. “We re-engineered the bases so they play better and work better, you can even control the players individually.”
And with the NFL license back, gamers can buy their favorite teams, in both home and away jerseys. These player figures have even found a niche similar to the wargaming community. “People will customize their players,” Strohm explained. “Some will add dreadlocks onto the back, paint their shoes, or even give them realistic gloves. People really go all-out on these figures.”
For the truly hardcore, Tudor also sponsors a tournament every year. “We have a world championship that happens every summer,” Strohm said. “This year it’s in Richmond, Virginia in July.”
Strohm’s big goal is to reintroduce Electric Football to those who grew up playing the game, as well as try and tap into a new generation of fans. He claims it has educational value as well. “It’s a great STEM game to learn about friction and physics,” he said.
There are three different sized fields for Electric Football, with the smallest being 24 inches by 13 inches and the largest at 36 inches by 18 inches. Electric Football sets begin at $49.95, and can be bought from the Tudor Games website or other popular retailers.
So what do you think? Are you happy to see Electric Football making a comeback? Will you be getting one of the updated sets? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
