Img Pens Exclusive China Deal

Sports marketing giant, IMG Worldwide, has agreed an exclusive 20-year deal with China’s state broadcaster CCTV to develop and market ‘world-class’ sports events throughout China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

The companies have formed a joint venture dubbed CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company, based in Beijing.

Expanding opportunities for sports programming and sponsorship off the back of the Beijing summer Olympic Games, the partnership will own and produce live sports events and accompanying TV and multimedia programming.

CCTV claims to reach more than one billion people through 17 channels and other cable networks, including CCTV5, the sports channel which has an 80% share of the sports broadcasting market.

Li Jian, President of China International Television Corporation (CITVC), the business arm of CCTV, said: ‘The fundamental purpose of the joint venture is to marry what CCTV does in China and what IMG does all over the world.’

‘If we are successful in China, there are going to be a whole lot of events that exist that do not exist today.’

IMG own or manage more than 4,000 sports events annually worldwide, including more recently the Indian Premier League. The deal marks the first time a non-China based company has been chosen to partner CCTV in a multi-sport, multi-year joint venture with CCTV.

IMG’s chairman and chief executive, Ted Forstmann, said: ‘The CCTV-IMG joint venture marks a milestone in the international development of China’s sports industry.

‘It will help us to better utilize China’s domestic resources and strongly enter the international market.’