New educational program is based on the "Madden NFL" video games.

EA Sports, the NFL Players Association and Discovery Education, a provider of digital content for K-12 classrooms, have teamed up for a national educational program.

"EA Sports Madden NFL: Football by the Numbers" will be targeted to students in grades 5-9 and will leverage football and video games to drive interest in math and science.

The program also includes a virtual field trip to EA’s Tiburon, Calif., development studio to meet the team behind the "Madden NFL" games and a local school community night featuring an NFL player, in addition to other learning tools.

"Learning to love math and science has always been important, and even more so now as our world becomes more dependent on technology. Many of our players are passionate about these subjects, and through the 'Madden NFL: Football by the Numbers' platform, kids will see that math and science can be fun and relatable,” says Ahmad Nassar, president, NFL Players, Inc., the licensing arm of the NFLPA. “We're proud to team up with innovators like Discovery Education and EA Sports to provide kids an extraordinary opportunity to learn and achieve results alongside their favorite players.”? 

"EA Sports Madden NFL: Football by the Numbers" will use a combination of "Madden NFL" highlights and plays by NFL players to take students inside the science and math behind football fundamentals and teach them how and why certain offensive and defensive plays work.

The program will launch on Dec. 1 and will be available online at no cost to educators, parents and students worldwide.

“This is an amazing new program to reach kids and engage them in math and science, and we’re excited to be a part of it,” says Anthony Stevenson, vice president, marketing, Electronic Arts. “We’ve always strived for 'Madden NFL' to be a teaching tool for the sport of football, and now we’re marrying the art of the video game to the science behind our young fans’ favorite sport, teaching them both the fundamentals of the sport and the math that fuels it.”? 

“Discovery Education is thrilled to collaborate with Electronic Arts and the NFL Players Association to use game and play to reach students at a time when research shows their interest in math and science fades,” says Bill Goodwyn, president and chief executive officer, Discovery Education. “Not only does 'Madden NFL: Football by the Numbers' engage students in these critical subjects through interactive, dynamic content, but it shows them the real-world relevance of these classroom subjects.”? ?