Sega & ESPN Sign Agreement

Sega & ESPN Sign Agreement

Sega upped the ante in its bid to challenge Electronic Arts as the dominant publisher of home sports video games, signing an exclusive, multiyear partnership with the brand many Americans associate with sports -- ESPN.

The fall lineup of Sega Sports games will borrow the look of an ESPN broadcast -- from the opening moments of the games, which begin at the Sports Center studio, to ESPN-styled camera angles and scores crawling along the bottom of the TV screen, to half-time analysis by ESPN anchors. Sega hopes the trappings of a live sportscast -- together with the lifelike play on the field -- with appeal to sports fans, who rank realism and authenticity as the top features they look for in buying a game.

''Gamers told us they want to feel as if they're playing a broadcast game. They want to feel like they're in control of a live game,'' said Peter Moore, president and chief operating officer of Sega of America.

The Sega Sports 2K3 series of games -- its football, basketball, hockey, baseball and NCAA college football -- all will carry the ESPN look and logo on the front of its package. Sega declined to disclose terms of the deal, describing the costs as ''non-material,'' but those familiar with the terms say the game developer committed to spending an estimated $12 million in advertising with ESPN.

It's just the price of admission in the lucrative world of sports games. San Francisco-based Sega of America has concentrated on being a game developer since dropping its Dreamcast game console last year.

Sports titles represent the single largest segment of the home video-game console market -- racking up $1.1 billion in sales and accounting for one of every four games sold, according to NPDFunworld, the Port Washington, N.Y., firm that tracks retail sales of video games and hardware in the United States.

Of course, a branding arrangement with Walt Disney's ESPN is not necessarily a slam dunk, industry analysts and insiders say. Both Acclaim Entertainment and Konami had previous licensing deals -- but failed to crack the top 10.

''It still comes down to game play,'' said Shawn Milne, vice president of research at Wit Soundview in San Francisco. ''If ESPN didn't do it for Acclaim or whoever else had the license, it's because the games suck.''

It will take more than brand affiliation to unseat Redwood City-based EA, which holds a 50 percent share of the sports-game market. Its most popular sports titles -- Madden NFL and FIFA soccer -- have sold more than 1 billion units worldwide.

''ESPN is a powerful trademark in sports TV -- and an ongoing partner in our marketing plans for EA Sports,'' EA spokesman Jeff Brown said. ''Sega apparently needs this to establish credibility in sports games. EA Sports already has that equity with both sports fans and gamers.''

SOURCE: Bayarea.com.