IMG

WME/IMG is currently operating 12 to 18 months ahead of financial projections following its takeover and is now focused on broadening its content base, according to the agency’s co-chief executive, Ari Emanuel.

The IMG Events & Media agency has agreed a deal to become the exclusive distributor of Barça TV, the official club television channel of Spanish Liga football club Barcelona.

Major League Soccer’s deal with Gol TV Latin America is a stop-gap to ensure coverage in the region for the remainder of the 2014-15 season. The league will seek a longer and more lucrative deal from next season.

Euroleague Basketball has signed a four-year partnership with IMG under which the agency will represent its live streaming, fastpath data and sponsorship rights in the betting, casino and gaming category for global and aggregated commercialisation of the Euroleague and Eurocup club competitions.

International broadcaster Eurosport agreed a spate of rights deals late last week as it continues to invest heavily in locally-relevant content.

Cricket Australia will take a more flexible approach to its rights sales when its global advisory deal with the IMG Events & Media agency expires after the 2015-16 season.

Qualifier matches for the 2019 Asian Cup begin on June 11 with about a dozen Asian football federations yet to sell second- and third-party media rights to their home matches to an agency.

Pan-regional sports broadcaster Eurosport took advantage of a lack of competition to secure live rights for the Diamond League athletics series in the key German and UK markets ahead of the 2015 season.

Interview with Petr Stastny, general coordinator and chief financial officer of the Diamond League, about the recent broadcast deal with Eurosport for the athletics series in the UK and Germany.

The IMG agency has expanded the reach of its action sports and lifestyle channel Edgesport by agreeing a carriage deal with multi-platform media and entertainment organisation Abu Dhabi Media Company.

World Rugby, rugby union’s global governing body, has earned a strong increase in the value of its Rugby World Cup media rights in Latin America.

Strong commitments – in both financial and attention terms – offered by the RDA Television and IEC in Sports agencies persuaded World Rugby to eschew larger players in its search for a new distribution partner for its second-tier properties.

The rights-trading subsidiaries of sports marketing company Lagardère Unlimited look set for a double boost. World Sport Group is close to renewing its contract with the Asian confederation, while Sportfive remains favourite to renew its deal for African confederation rights.

The International Olympic Committee expects to increase the value of its European media rights despite the gloomy economic outlook across much of the continent.

Interview with Timo Lumme, the IOC’s managing director of television and marketing, about the launch of its European tender for the 2018 and 2020 Olympic Games, and its advisory deal with IMG Events & Media.

US pay-television channel GolTV has signed a multi-year deal with the IMG agency to broadcast the Scottish Cup club football knockout competition.