Post by Segaman on Dec 15, 2004 13:57:45 GMT -5
Electronic Arts announced exclusive licensing relationships with the National Football League and PLAYERS INC to develop, publish and distribute interactive football games. These five-year agreements -- which EA negotiated separately -- give EA the exclusive rights to the NFL teams, stadiums and players for use in its football videogames. Both agreements also include exclusive rights for console online features. Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
For the first time, all aspects of the interactive experience -- including console-based fantasy football features and handheld game devices -- will be fully integrated with one EA game. This also provides the opportunity for new games and for EA to access both NFL Films and the NFL Network for use in the games.
---------------------------------------------
Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. on Monday said it had signed an exclusive agreement with the National Football League and the marketing arm of its players' union, giving EA the sole rights to put NFL players, stadiums and teams in its games.
The exclusive license strikes a blow for EA in its ongoing sports battle with the joint venture of Sega Sammy Holdings and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
Terms of the five-year deal were not disclosed. Shares in EA, which touched an all-time high during regular trading, rose four percent in the after-hours market after the NFL deal was announced.
Sega and Take-Two's "ESPN" line of sports games, with their strong reviews and discount $20 pricing, ate into EA's market share this year, leading EA to cut prices on its sports games.
While EA's "Madden NFL" used to outsell Sega's NFL football game as much as 10-to-1 on a units basis, this year the ratio has been closer to 1.5-to-1. The Sega/Take Two game uses players names and likenesses as well as team names and colors, which will not be allowed under the new arrangement.
"We started talking about this months before the ESPN product even hit the shelves," Gene Upshaw, director of the NFL Players Association, told Reuters. "Its been an ongoing dialogue about what can we do in this category to make it better for all of us."
A spokesman for Take-Two could not immediately comment on the arrangement. Shares in Take-Two fell nearly 7 percent to $33 in after-hours trade on Inet from a $35.42 Nasdaq close after the EA/NFL deal was announced.
Players Inc., the marketing arm of the players' union, discussed exclusivity arrangements with all of the NFL game licensees before settling on EA, said Clay Walker, its senior vice president.
EA chief executive Larry Probst told Reuters the company plans to use the license for new game franchises outside of "Madden" and the "NFL Street" brand.
---------------------------------------------
Contact:
Electronic Arts
Trudy Muller, 650-628-7323
tmuller@ea.com
or
NFL
Brian McCarthy, 212-450-2069
McCarthyB@NFL.com
or
PLAYERS INC
Christy Moran, 202-496-2885
christy.moran@nflplayers.com
---------------------------------------------
From Yahoo Finance
and Yahoo News
Damnit this sucks, no more ESPN NFL 2K football.
For the first time, all aspects of the interactive experience -- including console-based fantasy football features and handheld game devices -- will be fully integrated with one EA game. This also provides the opportunity for new games and for EA to access both NFL Films and the NFL Network for use in the games.
---------------------------------------------
Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. on Monday said it had signed an exclusive agreement with the National Football League and the marketing arm of its players' union, giving EA the sole rights to put NFL players, stadiums and teams in its games.
The exclusive license strikes a blow for EA in its ongoing sports battle with the joint venture of Sega Sammy Holdings and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.
Terms of the five-year deal were not disclosed. Shares in EA, which touched an all-time high during regular trading, rose four percent in the after-hours market after the NFL deal was announced.
Sega and Take-Two's "ESPN" line of sports games, with their strong reviews and discount $20 pricing, ate into EA's market share this year, leading EA to cut prices on its sports games.
While EA's "Madden NFL" used to outsell Sega's NFL football game as much as 10-to-1 on a units basis, this year the ratio has been closer to 1.5-to-1. The Sega/Take Two game uses players names and likenesses as well as team names and colors, which will not be allowed under the new arrangement.
"We started talking about this months before the ESPN product even hit the shelves," Gene Upshaw, director of the NFL Players Association, told Reuters. "Its been an ongoing dialogue about what can we do in this category to make it better for all of us."
A spokesman for Take-Two could not immediately comment on the arrangement. Shares in Take-Two fell nearly 7 percent to $33 in after-hours trade on Inet from a $35.42 Nasdaq close after the EA/NFL deal was announced.
Players Inc., the marketing arm of the players' union, discussed exclusivity arrangements with all of the NFL game licensees before settling on EA, said Clay Walker, its senior vice president.
EA chief executive Larry Probst told Reuters the company plans to use the license for new game franchises outside of "Madden" and the "NFL Street" brand.
---------------------------------------------
Contact:
Electronic Arts
Trudy Muller, 650-628-7323
tmuller@ea.com
or
NFL
Brian McCarthy, 212-450-2069
McCarthyB@NFL.com
or
PLAYERS INC
Christy Moran, 202-496-2885
christy.moran@nflplayers.com
---------------------------------------------
From Yahoo Finance
and Yahoo News
Damnit this sucks, no more ESPN NFL 2K football.
