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IMG (company) facts for kids

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International Management Group
Subsidiary
Founded 1960; 65 years ago (1960)
Founder Mark McCormack
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Area served
 25+ countries
Key people
 Ari Emanuel (co-CEO)
Patrick Whitesell (co-CEO)
Number of employees
 3,000+
Parent TKO Group Holdings
Divisions Art + Commerce
College
Events
Fashion
Media - Including Rights, Production & IMG ARENA
Models
Licensing

IMG, which stands for International Management Group, is a big company that works with sports, fashion, events, and media around the world. Its main office is in New York City. IMG helps athletes and famous fashion models. It also owns and runs many live events. Plus, it creates and shares sports and entertainment shows.

How IMG Started

IMG was started in 1960 in Cleveland, Ohio. A lawyer named Mark McCormack created it. He saw that athletes could earn a lot of money from advertising products, especially with TV becoming popular. His first clients were famous golfers like Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus. These three were known as "The Big Three." Mark McCormack passed away in 2003.

In 2004, a company called Forstmann Little bought IMG. Later, in 2013, IMG was bought by William Morris Endeavor (WME) and Silver Lake Partners. They formed a new company called WME-IMG. Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell became the co-CEOs.

In 2017, WME-IMG changed its name to Endeavor. IMG and WME then became parts of Endeavor. More recently, in February 2025, TKO Group Holdings bought several parts of Endeavor, including most of IMG.

IMG's Media Work

IMG's Media team creates and shares content for many sports groups and events. They work with big TV channels and online platforms worldwide. Every year, they deliver thousands of hours of content from over 200 clients.

They help produce and distribute many popular sports broadcasts. This includes the Premier League's international TV feed and the UEFA Champions League coverage for CBS. They also produce shows for the DP World Tour (golf) and the Ryder Cup.

IMG also has its own live sports channels. These include Sport 24, which is for airlines and cruise ships, and EDGEsport, which focuses on action sports. In 2012, IMG also created IMG ARENA, a company that provides sports data and technology.

IMG's Huge Archive

IMG has a massive collection of sports videos and content. It's like a giant library with over 500,000 hours of footage! This content goes back more than 120 years. It includes videos of events, highlights, interviews, and TV shows. You can find it in high-quality formats like 4K.

IMG works with many sports organizations to help them organize and share their old content. Some of these partners include:

IMG also helps brands and studios get the rights to use this old content.

IMG Models

IMG Models is a well-known modeling agency. It has offices in big cities like New York City, London, Paris, and Milan. It's part of the IMG company. In 2015, this agency represented more than half of the world's highest-paid supermodels.

IMG's Consulting Work

IMG's Consulting team helps sports groups and brands with their business and marketing plans. They also work on sponsorship deals. For example, they helped clients involved with the FIFA 2014 World Cup and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

Joint Projects (Joint Ventures)

IMG often works with other companies on special projects. These are called "joint ventures."

For example, in 2015, IMG and Euroleague Basketball started a ten-year joint project. Together, they manage the business side and global rights for the Euroleague and EuroCup. These are the top basketball competitions for clubs in Europe.

In 2018, IMG also teamed up with popular online influencers Joe Sugg and Caspar Lee to create a company called MVE.

Events IMG Manages

IMG owns, produces, and helps manage hundreds of events all over the world.

Art Events

  • Frieze (an art fair)

Football Events

Basketball Events

Entertainment Events

Figure Skating Events

  • Stars on Ice

Golf Events

Motorsports Events

  • Formula Drift
  • MotoGP (motorcycle racing)

Rugby League Events

Running Events

  • Melbourne Marathon

Strongman Events

  • World's Strongest Man competition

Surfing Events

  • U.S. Open of Surfing

Tennis Events

Triathlon Events

  • Escape from Alcatraz

Volleyball Events

  • FIVB Volleyball Men's Nations League
  • FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League

IMG College

IMG College works with over 90 universities and sports groups. They manage the rights for TV, radio, and online content. They also handle the licensing rights for over 150 colleges and universities. This means they help schools sell products with their logos, like t-shirts and hats.

Fashion Events

IMG is also very involved in the fashion world. They manage and produce major fashion events like:

  • Australian Fashion Week
  • Berlin Fashion Week
  • New York Fashion Week
  • Miami Swim Week

Licensing

IMG's Licensing team helps companies and brands use their trademarks and logos. They work with over 100 different owners of intellectual property.

eSports

IMG eSports works with video game publishers and tournament organizers. They help manage the business side of eSports events.

In April 2022, the Global Esports Federation (GEF) announced that IMG would be their partner. This led to the creation of the Commonwealth Esports Championship.

IMG's Channels

Sport 24

Sport 24 is a TV channel owned by IMG that shows live sports 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can watch it on international airlines like Emirates and Singapore Airlines. It's also available on cruise lines like Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines when they are in international waters.

The channel broadcasts live sports from many different competitions. This includes the Premier League, National Football League (NFL), National Basketball Association (NBA), UEFA Champions League, and the Olympic Games.

Sport 24 started in February 2012. In 2016, they added another channel called Sport 24 Extra. This channel offers even more live sports, especially when many events are happening at the same time. Both channels are broadcast from IMG's production center near London.

See also

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