‘We’ve got more money than we know what to do with’ Blur wanted something better than cash for being on FIFA 98 and they got it

September 30, 2023 Sports 3 Views

As FIFA game theme songs go, Blur’s ‘Song 2’ – the iconic track of choice for FIFA 98 – is right up there.

In their 90s heyday, the Britpop superstars might have demanded a hefty fee for it’s use – but, as it turns out, they weren’t really bothered about money in this instance.

They had their eyes on remuneration of a different kind – as Tom Stone, EA Sports’ Vice-President of European Marketing at the time explains to FourFourTwo.

Zinedine Zidane of France celebrates after scoring his team's second goal during the 1998 FIFA World Cup final between France and Brazil at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, France — (Image credit: Christian Liewig/TempSport/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Sean Ratcliffe, who became head of EA Sports Europe, phoned Blur just as they were about to go on stage in Australia,” recounts Stone of the FIFA 98 agreement.

“Sean said to them, ‘We want Song 2 – what can we give you?’ and I think it was Damon Albarn who replied, ‘We’ve got more money than we know what to do with, but what we can’t get is tickets to the World Cup final’.

We knew how to get them, so we secured four tickets for the 1998 World Cup Final and the deal was done.”

Woohoo!

Avril Lavigne attends the Christian Siriano SS24 Runway Show at The Pierre Hotel on September 08, 2023 in New York City.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

FIFA ’98 was the first time EA Sports included a soundtrack on the game. Music used in FIFA quickly became a big thing for bands’ marketing and record sales.

Music was a popular bi-product in the best-selling franchise. Typical sound tracks over the last 15 years have been a mix of up-and-coming artists, as well as already established music that has been given a new lease of life by the game.

EA Sports could even be credited with helping launch the careers of some world famous artists like Avril Lavigne (above).

Blur were already world-famous and rich by the time EA Sports secured Song 2 for FIFA ’98, but their song isn’t the most streamed FIFA-anthem. That honour goes to Glass Animals for their track, Heat Waves, which has an incredible 1,946,964,717 plays.