Christopher Erb (born June 19, 1972) was the Vice President of Brand Marketing at EA SPORTS and the Executive Vice President of Brand Marketing at Legendary Pictures. Erb is currently the Managing Partner of tripleclix. Career Born in Waverly, New York and raised in Seattle, Washington, Erb is a graduate of the University of Washington. He is best known for his work at EA SPORTS, building its partnership marketing group. Erb began his career in the video game industry in 2000 as a Brand Manager at Wizards of the Coast. While there, he oversaw the development and launches of the Neopets Trading Card Game and the Star Wars Trading Card Game. He also contributed to two MLB Showdown and two NFL Showdown TCG expansions in 2002, as well as the Pokémon and Dungeons & Dragons franchises. Erb joined EA SPORTS in 2005 as the Senior Director of Marketing for the Madden NFL franchise. While leading the launch of Madden NFL from '06 to '09, he helped redefine the way popular video game franchises are launched and marketed, mirroring that of major theatrical releases. This transition in marketing strategy spawned the events Maddenoliday and Maddenpalooza, both of which reinforced the notion that the annual release date of Madden NFL is a day worth celebrating for gamers. The latter of these events - Maddenpalooza - was held in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Erb and his team's work on Madden NFL 07 and 08 was awarded back to back MI6 Best Overall Marketing Campaign Silver Awards. The Madden NFL titles from 2006 to 2009 remain as four of the top 25 selling sports video games of all time in North America. In 2010, Erb became Vice President of Brand Marketing. In this capacity, he has helped guide the EA SPORTS brand beyond the console through strategic partnerships and licensing deals. In 2011, EA SPORTS opened retail locations in 3 airports across the country (Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City and Charlotte). In addition to airport stores, EA SPORTS opened its first sports bar in a partnership with Carnival Cruise Lines. In early 2012, EA SPORTS opened another bar location at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Both bars allow consumers to play EA SPORTS titles on the bar televisions. For his work in this role, he was named to the 2011 iMedia 25 List of Internet Marketing Leaders and Advertisers. Since 2010,