IMG Media

IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, fashion, events and media company headquartered in New York City. 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.

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. McCormack died in 2003.

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) later sold to Endemol in November 2009.

In 2006, IMG Media acquired nunet AG, a provider of mobile TV services to mobile network operators around the world. Clients of nunet's mobile TV CMS currently include: Vodafone, Proximus, Vodacom, Mobilkom A1. Content distributed currently includes MTV, Fashion TV, Eurosport, and Discovery Networks.

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.

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. 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.

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. The deal was completed on February 28, 2025.

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, 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.

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

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

Archive

IMG's Archive Services (previously 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.

IMG currently works with over 39 rightsholders helping to digitise, monetise and market their archive content including:

* ATP Media
* Cricket South Africa
* Deutsche Fußball Liga (Bundesliga and DFL-Supercup only)
* PGA European Tour
* World Athletics (Diamond League only)
* EFL
* Euroleague Basketball
* Football Federation Australia
* Frank Warren
* FIVB
* LPGA
* Augusta National Inc.
* FIM
* ANFP
* PBR
* Premier League Productions
* Giro d'Italia
* PGA of America ( American Ryder Cup matches only)
* Ryder Cup Europe (European matches only)
* KNVB (Eredivisie and Johan Cruyff Shield only)
* SAFF (Saudi Pro League and King's Cup only)
* Scottish Football Association (Scottish Cup

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