In late 2022, a significant number of online leagues in Madden 23 mysteriously vanished overnight, a catastrophe EA attributed to a “data-storage issue” that corrupted Franchise game files. While some fortunate players eventually saw their leagues restored, many others were left with permanently lost progress. The full extent of the damage, in terms of players and leagues affected, was never publicly disclosed. However, the gaming community’s reaction was clear: Reddit, EA Forums, and numerous Discord servers erupted with countless players lamenting the sudden disappearance of their meticulously built leagues. Fast forward to Madden 26, and an unsettlingly similar problem is resurfacing.
This time, the disappearances aren’t happening all at once. Players are encountering a slightly different—and perhaps more optimistic—error message. Yet, the core mystery remains: no one knows exactly why this is occurring, or if these impacted leagues can actually be saved.
The specific error message frequently displayed to affected players states: “Error: The requested league is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. We apologize for any inconvenience. You have been returned to the Franchise launcher.”
Typically, this message indicates a temporary server hiccup, like during a game patch deployment. However, many players are reporting being stuck with this exact message for weeks on end. For instance, a member of my own league shared that another one of his leagues has been totally inaccessible for over six weeks. Just yesterday, our 32-player league experienced the same frustrating bug, prompting us to start formulating a backup plan.
Player forums are overflowing with worried users speculating that their leagues might be gone for good. A quick scan of Franchise-related posts on platforms like the EA Forums and Reddit reveals numerous threads echoing similar concerns. It’s a widespread issue causing significant anxiety within the community.
It’s difficult to pinpoint if this problem is escalating, but it’s clearly impacting various leagues at different intervals, unlike the mass deletion event of 2022. While a few players have celebrated their leagues’ miraculous return after a few days, many others have sadly abandoned hope after enduring weeks of waiting. A community manager on the EA Forums recently addressed the situation, stating: “Apologies for the late reply on this one. We have notified the team that this has been happening with the leagues, and they are currently investigating this. Once we have more info on these or need any further information, we will update this thread.”
Although the precise cause of this current Franchise lockout appears to differ from the 2022 incident, the heartbreaking outcome for affected players remains identical: countless hours of dedication and progress are being erased in an instant.
The publisher has been contacted for comment on this ongoing issue, and updates will be provided as soon as more information becomes available.