IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is an American 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]
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 included Vodafone, Proximus, Vodacom, and Mobilkom A1, and content distributed by nunet included 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.
Endeavor acquired Mailman Group in 2021, and its UK-based Seven League digital marketing agency was integrated into IMG's Media division.[15]
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
- IMG Academy
- Sports agent – a listing of well-known sports agents, categorized by sport