The IMG Media agency has announced a seven-year strategic partnership with US video-sharing website Livestream to show and distribute live events around the world.
The partnership follows an in-depth assessment of the market by IMG, currently working with Livestream on sports events such as the Wimbledon tennis championships, The Open golf championship, Australia’s National Rugby League and major European football leagues.
The alliance coincides with Livestream debuting in Europe with the opening of a London office and the creation of its Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations and sales division.
Livestream’s London office will be led by Mark Kornfilt, Livestream’s co-founder and general manager of Livestream EMEA.
Kornfilt said: “As the global leader in sports, fashion and media, IMG Worldwide’s premium content will now reach Livestream’s growing global audience of over 30 million unique monthly visitors. This partnership also marks the beginning of our commercial expansion outside of the US market, and our focus and expansion in the sports market.”
Max Haot, chief executive and co-founder of Livestream, added: “Our vision is to bring every event around the world, live, to fans watching on any device: from tablets and mobile phones to connected televisions. This strategic alliance between IMG and Livestream is a major milestone in allowing us to bring more high-quality content to our global audience and will increase the strength of our live streaming solutions for sport events and federations.”
Livestream’s London office will work with the company’s global headquarters in New York and satellite offices in Los Angeles, India, and Ukraine.