Everything you need to know about rugby league’s new IMG partnership
12-YEAR DEAL CAN USHER IN NEW ERA FOR THE SPORT
Tuesday marked a big day for rugby league with formal confirmation of the sport’s new long-term strategic partnership with global media brand IMG. Rugby league and its governing bodies have committed to a 12-year partnership with the brand to try and reimagine and redefine the sport’s long-term future and its opportunities for growth.
But there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the deal.
Here is everything major you need to know about the sport’s newest partnership and what it means in terms of on and off-field matters, financial implications for the future and how the game will be structured administratively after the deal was finally announced.
Who are IMG?
The International Management Group are a global sports and events company which has its head offices in New York City.
They have divisions all across the cultural world, from sports to fashion and modelling, with rugby league the latest sport to join its significant portfolio.
Who do they already work with?
Their most notable partnerships come in the world of football.
They have significant commercial and rights deals with major tournaments including the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League, two of the biggest sporting events on the planet.
They also distribute the world feed of the Premier League globally, with the exception of the United States.
What is their remit in rugby league?
The sport’s new strategic partnership has effectively tasked IMG with taking the game to the next level.
IMG will use its portfolio of experience in the sporting world to seek out new audiences and new commercial opportunities for the game that it may otherwise have been unable to procure.
It will look at everything from competition restructuring, its digital image and how the sport can produce innovative content.
IMG will also look at the way rugby league distributes its media rights in closer detail and how it can attract the best broadcast deals possible for all of its competitions and domestic events.
Wait, competition restructuring? Does that mean rugby league’s structure will change again?
Not in the short-term, no. Rugby League Live has been told that there are categorically no plans for any change to the way the leagues are structured and formatted for 2023.
That means that promotion and relegation will be in place as planned between Super League and the Championship, with the side bottom of Super League relegated no matter what IMG do over the coming months.
The following years, however, provide less certainty: but no less certainty than if the strategic partnership deal had not been agreed.
Is this a private equity deal?
No. While Super League clubs explored the possibility of following rugby union’s Premiership and selling some of its stake to a private equity firm, that deal ultimately failed to materialise.
The company involved in that deal, Novalpina, failed to strike a deal and talks quickly fell apart.
The likes of St Helens chairman Eamonn Mcmanus were vocal in their belief private equity was not the way forwards for rugby league, which led to the decision from the game’s power brokers that a strategic partnership was the correct decision.
So what do IMG get out of the deal?
It is understood that IMG will take a slice of all future profits and revenues which come into the game from now on, with the belief being that their experience will open doors rugby league had previously been unable to.
That should mean that more money flows into the game, allowing IMG to take their cut, while ensuring the whole game has the opportunity to make more money from commercial deals than ever before.
They have not purchased any controlling stake in any part of the sport, as a private equity deal would have done.
Are they in charge of all commercial interests?
Not quite. They will oversee and advise all key aspects of the sport’s commercial arm moving forwards, including marketing, events and rights distribution.
That will be managed by the new Rugby League Commercial party which has been formed as part of the realignment between Super League and the RFL.
That board will be made up of five people: two representatives from Super League, two from the RFL and an independent chair, which has now been advertised for publicly.
There is every chance IMG could join the board but at present, they will simply oversee operations and advise the sport where possible.
When does the partnership begin?
Officially, the work has already begun. Rugby League Live has been told that IMG have already been conducting interviews with key players in rugby league to try and discover the state of play, with a full ‘audit’ of the sport’s operations now likely to roll forward at pace given the heads of terms have been signed off and the partnership has been announced.
That will then lead to a more formal, longer contract signing down the line.