Electronic Arts Signs Licensing Deal with ESPN
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. on Monday said it has signed a 15-year licensing deal with sports broadcaster ESPN, giving it the rights to use the network’s brand and to develop new games based on ESPN properties.
The deal strikes a further blow against what was EA’s chief competition in the sports market, the line of games from Sega Sammy Holdings and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., which previously held the ESPN rights and used the ESPN name.
However, at least initially, any potential changes to the EA sports games will be more subtle.
“We don’t anticipating changing anything significantly from what we are currently doing,” Larry Probst, chairman and chief executive of EA, said in an interview. EA games will not necessarily be branded with the ESPN name, he said, though they will potentially include ESPN data, graphics and sportscasters …
