It's a worthy vision, but one that requires a lot more than meets the eye.
To this day, the thought of 99% of the people who have heard the term "Electric football," is players running in circles together on a field to make it look like synchronized swimming. And this is just the people that have heard of the game. In that respect, it's a small percentage. So the percentage of folks who have:
A) Heard of the game
B) Don't have that aforementioned bias against it
... is incredibly small. It would take years, perhaps decades, to teach a mass generation of people about tweaking, painting, play-calling, strategies, etc., things that some of us who have been in the hobby for a long time still struggle with from time to time (I can't tweak worth a ****, for example).
The game in Brookstone is a nice thing. It's good that someone is putting this together - though I haven't seen yet what teams come with the game, or if all the NFL teams are going to be available. And moreover, at what cost. That's not a dig on the manufacturer, I just think we need more information, that's all.
If you really want this hobby to grow, you need to take it into the schools, church youth groups, etc. The future doesn't lie with teaching it to other adults. The future lies with teaching it to kids - BEFORE they get their XBox or their PS3. As I remember it, I was into football before I was into video games, and I had my first EF board (HOME/GUEST 500 with red and white teams!!!) before I had my first video game system (Intellivision!!!).
But that's an effort that needs to start now - because we, the players, ain't gettin' any younger. If we die off before paying it forward, the hobby goes with us.
I was going to say that this was my 2 cents, but you got the bonus plan so it's a whole nickel.
Ed