Take-Two CEO Touts Games Plan

Q: In terms of the sports segment, EA made a big splash earlier this year by signing exclusive deals with the National Football League and Disney's (DIS Quote) ESPN network. How much of a setback were those to Take-Two's sports efforts?

We took a shot with the NFL because we had done so well. We were making real inroads -- football being a very, very big market and a big part of the sports business. But I think we reacted pretty quickly to change the game a little bit. And the results were that Major League Baseball chose us because of our marketing plan, our innovative approach to baseball.

The NBA said, "I like the nonexclusive, competitive marketplace," and awarded us a five-year opportunity to market NBA products. Both hockey and college basketball are now leaning toward longer-term, nonexclusive arrangements.

Now we're surrounding those key licensed properties with other properties that we own, and make that whole sports franchise more important.

We didn't look upon [EA's NFL deal] as a loss, because we only had it for that one year. I don't think it changes our thoughts. But if you're asking, "Would we rather have the NFL?" Absolutely.