Today's Wall Street Journal had a typically in-depth and insightful article on the ongoing sports game licensing battle between EA Sports and Take-Two. I'd link to the article itself but the bozos at the WSJ charge for their content, so instead I'll just point out some of more interesting tidbits. The first area of note: According to the article, EA shelled out approximately $1.2 billion for NFL and ESPN rights last year; $400 million for the NFL license (a number I had also heard) and $800 million for ESPN (which was news to me).

　　Majesco Entertainment Co. chief executive Carl Yankowski provides a memorable quote (and possibly a not-so-subtle dig at NBA Live for Xbox 360?) in the story, echoing another in the long line of complaints against sports titles:

　　"You can put three more drops of perspiration on a forehead" of a player "and you've got $50."

　　Meanwhile the article goes on to point out that while EA holds an estimated 63% market share of the overall U.S. sports videogame market, and paints a stark contrast in the approach of EA's focus-group directed development efforts to Take-Two's (or more accurately, Rockstar's) "to hell with 'em" development style with the Grand Theft Auto series. My guess is there was probably some focus testing with ESPN NFL 2K5 but probably not enough. How else do you explain the presence of David Arquette and Carmen Electra?