The sports-rights war reached fever pitch today, with Electronic Arts announcing it had signed an exclusivity deal with the International Curling Federation. The 10-year agreement will make EA the sole publisher of all console, handheld, and PC games based on the winter sport, which has players slide a stone down a sheet of ice toward a set of rings. The mobile and massively multiplayer online rights to curling were not covered under the deal, the financial terms of which were not disclosed.
"For nearly 500 years, residents of the world's coldest regions have participated in this majestic sport," said EA Sports general manager Todd Rammer. "EA is proud to help spread awareness to this exciting pastime to warmer climes."
Rammer also said that along with Ford, EA would be the primary sponsor of the 2008 World Men's Curling Championship, which will be held in Grand Forks, North Dakota. A full explanation of curling and its rules can be found on its governing body's WebSite.
Not to be outdone in the scramble to snap up the few remaining professional sports rights, Take-Two Interactive announced it was in "advanced talks" with the US Croquet Association. However, sources close to the negotiations said the USCA is only considering granting third-party rights to the lawn sport to Take-Two. Such a caveat would allow Sony Computer Entertainment America to continue to produce its successful World Croquet Tour games for the PlayStation 2. Nintendo is also rumored to be developing its own GameCube title based on the sport, called Nintendo Wicket Pursuit Croquet.
When presented with the croquet deal, EA's Rammer said, "As far as we're concerned, this looks like stupid money. They are paying an exclusive price for a nonexclusive agreement." He added, "This proves that there is still competition in sports games, which is something we at EA take real serious."
Also eager to get into the fray was Ubisoft, which recently licensed sports-game engines from Microsoft and signed a deal with pro golfer Vijay Singh. Unconfirmed reports say the French publisher has held secret meetings with the Collegium Cosmicum ad Buxeas, the "preeminent international organization" for the sport of bocce ball. No further details were available as of press time.
