Take-Two Swats Back at EA with MLB Deal
By Susan B. Shor
TechNewsWorld
01/31/05 10:09 AM PT
"Moving into the next console cycle, EA has been making some big moves to ensure the ongoing success of its sports franchises by locking up long-term exclusive licenses," said Jay Horowitz of Jupiter Media. "This deal was important for Take-Two to remain relevant in this category."

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Staying in the Game
"Take-Two in conjunction ESPN/SEGA posed a real threat to EA in the sports
market," Jay Horowitz, senior analyst at Jupiter Media, told TechNewsWorld.
"Moving into the next console cycle, EA has been making some big moves to
ensure the ongoing success of its sports franchises by locking up long-term
exclusive licenses. This deal was important for Take-Two to remain relevant
in this category."
In January, EA Games lured rights for ESPN content away from Sega and
Take-Two. The company also has locked up exclusive rights to National
Football League games for five years.
Take-Two needed the signing in order to get back in the sports market game,
a lucrative one for software makers.
Key Category
"The sports game category overall is the most important game genre,"
Horowitz said. "These titles are persistently in top 10 games sold, have
strong support from marketing and enthusiasm generated in real life league
play, and are stable revenue generators in a market characterized by
changeable consumer tastes. Platform suppliers have made a variety of
attempts to gain share in this segment with limited, if any, success."
Take-Two will need some help scoring with its deal, which begins in spring
2006; football games far outdistance baseball in terms of popularity, Horowitz
said.
The company also announced it has signed Yankees
shortstop and celebrity-about-town Derek Jeter to a multi-year contract to
promote the 2K Sports baseball series and appear on its cover.
Take-Two reported annual sales of US$1.1 billion with a net income of $65
million in 2004; EA Games reported close to $3 billion in sales with a net
income of $577 million.