Electronic Arts announced today that EA SPORTS™ Fantasy Football will be launching a new website,  fantasy.EASPORTS.com and will have fantasy football applications specific to the Xbox 360 later this summer. The web-based service of EA SPORTS Fantasy Football is free, while members of Xbox LIVE will have the opportunity to download the innovative fantasy football applications for a fee.   In addition, for the first time ever, gamers will have the ability to play their fantasy football squad in Madden NFL 09.  EA Experts, a team of internal fantasy football gurus, returns and serves as a go-to source for all fantasy football information. 

Exclusive to EA SPORTS Fantasy Football customers, gamers will have the ability to download the EA SPORTS Fantasy Football Live Draft Tracker application and experience a fantasy draft that includes all of the fanfare and presentation of an authentic professional football draft on their Xbox 360. Gamers can view video clips and hear the EA Experts team provide commentary on top players and track their EA SPORTS Fantasy Football teams through the EA SPORTS Fantasy Football Live Score Tracker application, which is also available via download from Live. If you’ve ever wanted to test your fantasy team against others in the Madden NFL franchise, EA SPORTS Fantasy Football now gives you the opportunity.  Through the website, players designate which fantasy team will be imported into Madden NFL 09.  This fantasy team is a fully-functional created team and can be played in all areas available to created teams, including online head-to-head games, providing the ultimate football gaming experience. 

This seems like a cool idea, and could work quite well for the fantasy football fanatics out there. Yes there are some free sites out there, but there are some sites people pay for fantasy football, so why not here. My main concern is not that there is a fee, but how large of one? That is what could make or break this little deal.