IMG (company)

Global sports, events and talent management company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City.[1] The company manages athletes and fashion celebrities; owns, operates and commercially represents live events; and is an independent producer and distributor of sports and entertainment media.[2]

Company typeSubsidiary
Founded1960; 66 years ago (1960)
FounderMark McCormack
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Quick facts Company type, Founded ...
IMG Worldwide, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary
Founded1960; 66 years ago (1960)
FounderMark McCormack
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Area served
25+ countries
Key people
Ari Emanuel (CEO)
Adam Kelly (president)
Number of employees
3,000+
ParentTKO Group Holdings
DivisionsLearfield IMG College
Art + Commerce
IMG Events
IMG Fashion
IMG Media
IMG Rights
IMG Production
Others
WebsiteIMG.com
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History

IMG was founded in 1960 in Cleveland, Ohio, by Mark McCormack, an American lawyer who spotted the potential for athletes to make large incomes from endorsement in the television age. He signed professional golfers Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus as his first clients who collectively are known as The Big Three.[3] McCormack died in 2003.[4]

In 2004, Forstmann Little, led by Theodore J. Forstmann, acquired the company; Forstmann served as chairman and CEO until his death in late 2011.

On June 1, 2006, IMG Media acquired Tiger Aspect Productions, the producer of the British television series Mr. Bean and the company, along with Darlow Smithson Productions (also acquired in 2006) was later sold to Endemol in November 2009.[5][6][7][8] nunet, a provider of mobile TV services to mobile network operators around the world, was also acquired by IMG. Clients of nunet's mobile TV CMS currently included Vodafone, Proximus, Vodacom, and Mobilkom A1, and content distributed by nunet included that of MTV, Fashion TV, Eurosport, and Discovery Networks. nunet was later sold to KIT Digital, Inc. in 2009.

In November 2007, IMG acquired Kentucky-based Host Communications, which had multiple business units with services ranging from sports marketing and broadcasting to the management of associations and non-profit organizations. The sports-related businesses were combined with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to form IMG College, while the association management division was renamed IMG Associations.

IMG was originally headquartered in downtown Cleveland in a complex built in 1965 across the street from Erieview Tower. When the IMG Center was built, it originally housed the Cuyahoga Saving Bank, which was acquired by Charter One Bank in 1998.

In 1997, IMG renovated the Cuyahoga Savings Bank Building and renamed it IMG Center. Following the acquisition of IMG by Forstmann Little, the headquarters remained in Cleveland, Ohio, for several years until officially relocating to its parent company's existing offices in New York, in 2010, though the IMG Center is still located on East Ninth Street in Cleveland.

On October 15, 2010, IMG acquired ISP, the multimedia rights holder for more than 50 universities based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As a result of the acquisition, IMG College retained ISP's former headquarters in Winston-Salem.[9]

On December 18, 2013, IMG was acquired by William Morris Endeavor and Silver Lake Partners in a $2.4 billion deal to form WME-IMG.[10] WME's Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell served as co-CEOs.

WME-IMG reorganized in October 2017 with the parent company being renamed from WME-IMG to Endeavor, and IMG and WME becoming subsidiaries of Endeavor. Ari Emanuel became Endeavor CEO and Patrick Whitesell became Endeavor executive chairman.[11]

On October 23, 2024, it was announced that TKO Group would acquire several businesses from Endeavor, including IMG (aside from "businesses associated with the IMG brand in licensing, models, and tennis representation, nor IMG's full events portfolio"), as part of a $3.25 billion deal, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2025.[12] The deal was completed on February 28, 2025.[13]

Divisions

Media

IMG's Media Division produces, develops and executes multi-channel distribution strategies for federations, associations and events working with major global broadcasters, channels and platforms. Each year it delivers 45,000 hours of content originating from over 200 clients.

The company's multimedia product offering includes production of Channel 4's England men's UEFA Nations League and European Qualifiers and Super League rugby coverage, CBS' UEFA Champions League coverage, the DP World Tour and Ryder Cup coverage, and the Premier League's international broadcast feed.

IMG also produces and distributes Sport 24,[14] the live, linear sports channel for the airline and cruise industries, and EDGEsport, the linear action sports channel.

In 2012, IMG created IMG ARENA, a sports data and technology company for the betting, media and professional sectors.[citation needed]

Endeavor acquired Mailman Group in 2021, and its UK-based Seven League digital marketing agency was integrated into IMG's Media division.[15]

Trans World Sport was one of the first productions created by TWI/IMG when it began weekly production in May 1987. The 49-minute sports magazine programme airs in numerous countries around the world and is owned and distributed by IMG

In 2015, IMG and Euroleague Basketball agreed on a ten-year joint venture. Together they will manage the commercial operation, and management of all global rights covering both media and marketing of the EuroLeague (the premier competition for European professional men's basketball clubs) and its 2nd-tier competition, the EuroCup.[16]

In April 2022, the Global Esports Federation (GEF) announced IMG Media as their strategic partners and as a result the Commonwealth Esports Championship was formed.[17]

Archive

IMG's Archive Services (also known as IMG Replay) houses the largest sports archive platform with over 500,000 hours of content dating back over 120 years including event footage, highlights, interviews, ISOs and programming, available in 4K, 3D and HR=D.[18]

IMG Replay currently works with over 39 rights holders helping to digitize, monetize, and market their archive content, including:

IMG Models

IMG Models is an international modelling agency headquartered in New York City and with additional offices in London, Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, and Sydney.[19][citation needed] In 2025, following IMG's sale to TKO Group Holdings, IMG Models was spun-off from IMG to remain under the full ownership of Endeavor.

Consulting

IMG's Consulting division works with rights holders and brands on commercial, marketing, and sponsorship strategy. IMG Consulting's stadium and arena group works with sports leagues and franchises.

In Brazil, IMG worked with local affiliate IMM, serving clients involved with the FIFA 2014 World Cup and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

Events

IMG owns, produces and commercially represents hundreds of events worldwide.

Art

IMG Events produces art events for:

Association football

IMG Events produces football events for:

Basketball

IMG Events produces basketball events for:

Entertainment

IMG Events produces entertainment events for:

Figure skating

IMG Events produces figure skating events for:

Golf

IMG Events produces golf events for:

Motorsports

IMG Events produces motorsport events for:

Rugby league

IMG Events produces rugby league events for:

Running and triathlon

IMG Events produces running/triathlon events for:

Strongman

IMG Events produces strongman events for:

Surfing

IMG Events produces surfing events for:

Tennis

IMG Events produces tennis events for:

Volleyball

IMG Events produces volleyball events for:

IMG College

Main article: Learfield

In late 2007, IMG acquired Host Communications and the Collegiate Licensing Company to form IMG College (later known as Learfield). In 2010 IMG acquired ISP Sports, which was based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.[26] Today, IMG represents the multimedia rights for more than 90 universities, conferences, collegiate associations and venues along with the licensing rights to more than 150 colleges and universities as well as the College Football Playoff. Additionally, IMG Seating serves more than 100 universities, and IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions provides outsourced ticketing services to universities.[citation needed]

Fashion

Licensing

IMG's Licensing Division works in trademark licensing and currently provides its services to more than 100 Licensors of intellectual property.[citation needed] In 2025, following IMG's sale to TKO Group Holdings, IMG Licensing was spun-off from IMG to remain under the full ownership of Endeavor.

eSports

IMG eSports represents the commercial rights for numerous game publishers and tournament operators, including:

  • PGL
  • DPC WEU Tour
  • DPC NA Tour
  • EVO
  • EVO Japan
  • EVO Las Vegas
  • Combo Breaker
  • CEO
  • East Coast Throwdown
  • First Attack
  • Versus Fighting
  • UFA
  • Global Esports Federation
  • Global Esport Tours
  • Global Esports Games

TV channels

Sport 24

Sport 24 is a 24/7 live sports television channel owned by IMG, which is available on international airlines including AeroMéxico, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines and Turkish Airlines, as well in international waters on cruise lines including Carnival, Celebrity Cruises, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, P&O and Royal Caribbean International.[27]

The channel broadcasts live sport from 40 international federations and competitions. These include Premier League, National Football League, National Basketball Association, UEFA Champions League, ATP World Tour, PGA Tour, European Tour, Euroleague, UEFA European Championship, Olympic Games and Ryder Cup.[28]

Sport 24 launched in February 2012. A secondary part-time channel, Sport 24 Extra, launched in 2016, offering an extra 150 live hours a month and choice during concurrent events.[28] Both channels originate from IMG's production headquarters at Stockley Park near Heathrow Airport. Sport 24 is available on Panasonic's live television service, which is broadcast via satellite to airlines.

Joint ventures

IMG operates joint ventures with key partners across many areas of the business.

In Brazil, China, India, and Turkey IMM (Brazil, former IMX), CC-TV IMG (China), IMG Reliance (India) and IMG Dogus (Turkey) develop sports, fashion and entertainment properties in their respective territories.

In 2018, IMG and influencers Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee founded the joint venture Margravine Management, now known as MVE.[29][30]

See also

References

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