UP268 IMG WTF?

Adam Kelly has been at IMG for over twenty years and is now the president of IMG Media, overseeing the four core units of rights sales, production, betting and digital media, the latter part via the recently acquired Seven League.In May this year IMG announced a twelve year strategic partnership with The Rugby Football League (RFL) and Super League Europe, with the headline objective to ‘reimagine Rugby League and its competitions in the UK’. The agreement follows the recent decision for the RFL and Super League to realign and form a new joint venture company.So what does IMG see in the sport of Rugby League and what does re-imagining mean in 2022? This is a way in to a conversation about how the storied agency views the sports landscape today, the pitfalls that await nascent sports, and the challenge of communisation in the sports marketing agency sector. This podcast is sponsored by Leaders Week London which returns this at the slightly earlier than usual date of 26th to 29th September 2022. Over 70% of LW LDN attendees are at Director level or above. From the Premier League to WWE, BT Sport to DP World Tour, they’ll all be there this September. In addition to the talks going on across three stages, there’s networking breakfasts, forums (like the Brand and Sponsorship Forum), think tanks (the Broadcast Disruptors Think Tank for example), tech showcases on the exhibition floor and the list goes on – you can tailor your Leaders Week London experience to best suit you.The two day Summit, part of Leaders Week, will be held at Twickenham Stadium on 28th and 29th September. Even better, you can use UP15 for a 15% discount on your Summit passes. Visit leadersinsport.com/UP for more information.Unofficial Partner is the leading podcast for the business of sport. A mix of entertaining and thought provoking conversations with a who's who of the global industry. To join our community of listeners, sign up to the weekly UP Newsletter and follow us on Twitter and TikTok at @UnofficialPartnerWe publish two podcasts each week, on Tuesday and Friday. These are deep conversations with smart people from inside and outside sport. Our entire back catalogue of 500 sports business conversations are available free of charge here. Each pod is available by searching for ‘Unofficial Partner’ on Apple, Spotify and every podcast app. If you’re interested in collaborating with Unofficial Partner to create one-off podcasts or series and live events, you can reach us via the website.