CCTV plays ball with US sports-promo giant

By Winny Wang  |   2008-8-2  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CHINA Central Television tied up with United States sports marketing giant IMG Worldwide Inc yesterday to set up a joint venture to promote sports events across China.

The Beijing-based venture, with a 20-year term, will own and produce a series of live sporting events and TV programs that will serve as a new platform for a wide range of corporate sponsors in the region following the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

IMG is the first foreign company that CCTV has cooperated with in an exclusive, multi-year and multi-sport venture. IMG's knowledge and experience in designing, staging and operating sporting events will be linked with CCTV and its 17 national channels and array of cable networks, which reaches more than 1 billion people, the company said.

"'CCTV-IMG Sports Management' will be a formidable international brand capable of developing compelling sports and entertainment content for many years to come," said Ted Forstmann, chairman and chief executive officer of IMG.

As the world's largest independent producer and distributor of sports content, IMG has advised many of the world's leading sports governing bodies, sporting events and cultural organizations.

"Television has been a catalyst for change and growth in sports, and CCTV 5, as the leader in sports media in China, has been at the forefront," said Ruan Wei, CEO of the joint venture.

"For CCTV Sports to leverage this platform enhances China's sovereign and proprietary sports rights, domestically and internationally, and enables premier sporting events to be developed and broadcast in China," he said. IMG collaborated with the Board of Control for Cricket to create the Indian Premier League and has advisory agreements with the International Rugby Board's Rugby World Cup and the Olympic Council of Asia's The Asian Games.