Take-Two Not In Football Shape

SAN FRANCISCO -- Few on the Street thought video-game publisher Take-Two's(TTWO Quote) bleeding sports business was a good idea. The fate of its latest football game, All-Pro Football 2K8, proves the point.

Take-Two's sports division, 2K Sports, which also makes hockey and baseball games, is not expected to be profitable until 2008, the company says. But lackluster sales of All-Pro Football 2K8 and attempts to stick with the series are likely to only mean more affliction.

One analyst estimates that only 500,000 copies of that game will be shipped to stores by Oct. 31, the end of Take-Two's fiscal year 2007. Over the game's lifetime, Take-Two could ship about 733,000 copies, says Jesse Divnich, an analyst with The simExchange, an online site that aims to act as a video games prediction market. ...