I see the logic and I don't at the same time.
EA/Tiburon/EA Sports was ready to axe all three modes because they weren't going to be able to update it with the brand new interface. That makes sense, transforming something like franchise into a whole new interface probably takes a good deal of time, especially if you want to do it right.
As a consolation, they decided to put these in the game under the "classic modes" label. Of course, they had to screw up a perfectly good consolation prize by putting it behind a code.
It just sucks because this is the only major blemish on what is otherwise a fantastic game.