EA’s Worst Company In America Reign Comes To An End With Loss To Time Warner Cable

Video game giant Electronic Arts stepped into the Worst Company In America nonagon of unpleasantness this morning crowned with two Golden Poos and with the confidence that the tournament’s only two-time winner could have. But in the end, it wasn’t EA that was carried out of the arena in victory — it was Time Warner Cable.

In the narrowest margin of victory since 2011, when BP beat Bank of America for the WCIA by less than one percent, Time Warner Cable upset EA’s attempt at a three-peat by eking out 51.2% of the vote.

Despite its cock-up of the Battlefield 4 and Titanfall releases, EA just didn’t have the all-out support that it had received in the previous two tournaments. And while Time Warner Cable has always merited a spot in the WCIA brackets, the company’s pending merger with former WCIA champ Comcast undoubtedly played into readers’ voting decisions. Judging by the absolute crushing that Comcast brought down on Yahoo in its first round match, there is a lot of hatred out there for the nation’s largest cable/Internet provider, and today’s TWC result confirms that voters are more than happy to spread that hate around.

In theory, there could be a final Death Match showdown between merger partners TWC and Comcast, but there are some big speedbumps in the way. Before we can even start planning that contest, TWC will need to defeat Koch Industries in Round Two.

AMERICAN AIRLINES VS. LULULEMON

It probably not a surprise that the nation’s newly merged, now-largest airline beat out a yoga apparel company with pants that were so see-through that the CEO, and the company co-founder, and others had to step down. In fact, WCIA newcomer Lululemon should not be in downward-facing-dog after its loss, as it managed to earn nearly 1/3 of the vote against a much bigger company in an industry people love to hate.

The next round will be a true test of American’s WCIA worth, in a red-white-and-black-and-blue battle with Bank of America.

TICKETMASTER/LIVE NATION VS. AETNA

Even though we hear lots of hate for health insurance companies and one or two always makes the bracket, they never seem to go very far. The latest healthcare hopeful to go all Glass Joe in the WCIA ring is Aetna, which didn’t really stand a chance against perennial Final Four contender Ticketmaster/Live Nation. After all, not everyone has Aetna, but if you want to see a concert or sporting event, there’s a good chance you’ll be paying the Ticketmaster piper his fee.

Looking ahead to Round Two, Ticketmaster will face off against either newcomer SeaWorld or the acetaminophen-pushers of Johnson & Johnson/McNeil.

For those keeping track at home, with four matches left to go in Round One, here’s how the bracket looks right now:

by Chris Morran via Consumerist