By David Bledsoe

The hype behind “Madden 25” grows rapidly as we approach its scheduled release on Aug. 27. EA Sports recently launched the demo for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, and the small peek into America’s most popular football sim is yielding great reviews.

Now EA Sports is giving away a free year of NFL Sunday Ticket with the purchase of Madden 25 Anniversary Edition on Amazon. The upgraded copy of the game will sell for $99. Stack that against the $225 you’d pay for Sunday Ticket through DirecTV, and it’s a no-brainer of a great deal, right? Well there is one catch: This offer is only good with a new or existing DirecTV subscription, with no streaming-only options.

And if this catch convinces you to stick with Sunday Ticket through your Playstation 3, well, you can’t do that either. NFL fanatics without cable or satellite subscriptions could purchase a stream-only version of Sunday Ticket on Playstation for $299. Pricey, but a blessing for cable-cutters who refused to hop on the service.

Now that option is off the table. Sony confirmed that Sunday Ticket will not be available through the Playstation for the 2013-2014 season. Why? Well, no one is saying for sure. Some suspect that the NFL’s new relationship with Microsoft could have something to do with it, but all rumors are unconfirmed. DirecTV does offer a mobile-only version of Sunday Ticket for $350, but you must prove that you can’t receive satellite TV because a dish isn’t allowed on your property or it can’t get a clear connection.

After all this, if the deal through EA and Amazon still looks appealing, there is some help offered. Customers without a current DirecTV subscription get $10 off their monthly bill for one year, alongside one free season of Sunday Ticket. “Madden 25 Anniversary Edition” and the free season of NFL Sunday Ticket are available for pre-order exclusively through Amazon.

David is an engineer during the day and a gamer by night. He enjoys writing about digital technology and entertainment news.