Take-Two announces Sega ESPN deal

Take-Two Interactive today announced that it has signed a binding letter of intent with Sega to copublish and exclusively distribute all of its ESPN video games around the world. Under the terms of the multiyear agreement, franchises such as ESPN NFL Football, ESPN NHL Hockey, ESPN NBA Basketball, ESPN College Hoops, and ESPN Major League Baseball will be copublished under the Sega and Global Star Software labels. Distribution of the ESPN titles will be handled by Jack of All Games in North America and Take-Two Europe in other international territories.

"We believe this exclusive relationship with Sega is a great opportunity for Take-Two," said Paul Eibeler, president of Take-Two. "We have tremendous respect for the critically acclaimed properties that Visual Concepts has created, and we are confident that our global sales and distribution capabilities provide the resources that will fully support these products."

"We are excited to have Take-Two bring their second-to-none distribution power and proven experience reaching the mass market to the ESPN video games franchise we've built with Sega," added Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts. "We are proud of the quality of our games and [of] the loyalty of our fans, and we look forward to being able to reach a whole new audience."

The multiyear copublishing and distribution agreement announced today includes a provision for Take-Two to further extend its participation in Sega's sports game business and in all associated intellectual property for both current and future gaming platforms.