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WSJ: Game Developer Take-Two in Talks With MLB for Exclusive Rights

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 20, 2005 - 7:53am.
New York -- The Wall Street Journal recently reported that video game publisher Take-Two Interactive, known for its blockbuster "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, may be in talks with Major League Baseball to secure exclusive rights to use official players, teams, uniforms and stadiums in its baseball video games. News of the negotiations follows on Electronic Arts' landmark five-year, $50 million deal with the NFL for exclusive NFL football game rights for its "Madden NFL" franchise, and its deal to replace Take-Two as the licensee of the ESPN brand for use in video games. While those deals could sink Take-Two's "ESPN NFL" game franchise, an exclusive deal between Take-Two and MLB would likely negatively affect Sony's baseball game franchise but not Electronic Arts', which does not make use of official MLB branding.
tags: MLB | Take-Two | WSJ | Deal | Game Developer | Exclusive Rights |