IMG

Owen Evans asked Jeff Slack, former IMG senior vice-president of football, for a sports marketer’s perspective on working in China and whether the David Beckham factor kick-started football in the country.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has confirmed the addition of a second Russian event to its 2016 calendar.

The IMG agency has announced the appointment of Paul Bellamy as the new managing director of the International Motorsport Federation’s (FIA) World Rallycross Championship (World RX).

The IMG College division of the IMG agency has acquired US mobile hospitality company TopShelf and has agreed a multi-year partnership with Princeton University.

The IMG agency has furthered its presence in eSports by signing global representation deals with the Cloud9, Dignitas and SK Gaming organisations.

Rob Ridley takes a look at why the proposed Xero Gravity Action Sports and Entertainment Complex in Florida is set to become an action sports mega-hub unrivalled anywhere else in the world.

The WME-IMG agency has furthered its presence in the live event productions market by agreeing to acquire Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the world’s premier bull riding circuit.

The IMG agency has entered into an agreement with the promotional and management companies of world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko to represent and promote female boxing star Cecilia Brækhus.

Spanish Liga football club Barcelona has entered into a strategic relationship with IMG for the agency to exclusively represent its commercial interests in mainland China.

The WME-IMG agency has further bolstered its presence in the golf market by acquiring talent agency Icon Sports Management.

The WME-IMG agency has completed the acquisition of Global eSports Management (GEM) a global full-service eSports talent agency that manages a range of clients from across the gaming industry.

The IMG agency has extended its agreements with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to remain as the exclusive distributor of live scoring fastpath data for the premier tours in men’s and women’s tennis until 2020.

The WME-IMG agency has signed a worldwide marketing and management representation agreement with rising tennis star Genie Bouchard.

Sports agency IMG has one of the largest athlete management portfolios in the industry. In golf in particular, after signing Arnold Palmer as its first client in 1960, IMG’s portfolio quickly grew and it now manages almost 100 professional golfers alongside owning, managing or operating over 30 events. The agency’s golf clientele include Victor Dubuisson, Ernie Els and Michele Wie.

What content works best for each social media platform, and how to exactly measure what ROI is for a social media strategy, are two questions every major outward-facing business looks to answer on a daily basis. Elisha Chauhan asked social media experts from across the world what the answers are in sport and, through a series of case studies, looked at the challenges and opportunities facing a variety of rights-holders.

Tom Berrington and Seth Holmes, former vice-presidents at IMG, have set-up Rise, a sports marketing and rights representation agency based in Dubai.