WTA Ventures appoints IMG as managed production services partner

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ST PETERSBURG, FL / LONDON, UK -- WTA Ventures has appointed IMG as its managed production services partner in a multi-year agreement commencing with the 2027 season. The partnership is the latest element of the WTA’s strategy to raise the profile and impact of the women’s Tour through investment in compelling storytelling, innovative coverage and deeper audience engagement.

IMG will lead the delivery of coverage across more than 50 WTA Tour events each season, including the WTA Finals, WTA 1000, WTA 500 and WTA 250 tournaments. Services provided will vary by tournament and will include host broadcast production, world feed production, venue connectivity, global distribution, technical operations, and short-form content production.

Together with the WTA and, in some cases, tournament-appointed host broadcasters, IMG will leverage its industry-leading expertise, remote production hub and global connectivity network to deliver end-to-end production, promising more innovative, resilient and scalable coverage for broadcasters and fans worldwide.

As part of the agreement, IMG will also manage the wider ecosystem of specialist production partners, including outside broadcast and graphics providers, ensuring a fully integrated approach to delivering the WTA Tour's global coverage.

Marina Storti, CEO of WTA Ventures, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with IMG on the next stage of our journey to bring the drama and entertainment of the WTA Tour to fans around the world through high quality and innovative coverage. IMG has a proven track record of delivering outstanding production across a range of sports and I am confident that, together, we can raise the bar yet further in how tennis is covered, to the benefit of our broadcast and commercial partners, players, tournaments, and fans.”

Barney Francis, Chief Business Officer at IMG, said: “We are incredibly excited about this new partnership with the WTA, which builds on the strength and trust of our broader relationship to help them grow even greater reach, value and impact. As media and consumption habits continue to evolve, it’s more important than ever to deliver an innovative, consistently premium product across every platform.”

Sally Brown, VP and Head of Multisport Content at IMG, added: “The WTA is one of the most important and compelling properties in global sport, with elite competition, star power and a clear ambition to keep enhancing the fan experience. We are excited to help elevate how the WTA’s story is told and experienced by broadcasters and fans around the world.”

This appointment builds on IMG’s work as a strategic commercial partner to the WTA Tour and WTA Ventures. The global sports marketing agency represents WTA Ventures’ broadcast rights across the Americas and Asia Pacific, recently closing significant deals with Tennis Channel in the US and CazéTV in Brazil, and helped broker the groundbreaking Mercedes-Benz sponsorship agreement.

IMG produces coverage and content for some of the world’s biggest leagues and events, including the DP World Tour, Major League Soccer, the English Football League, Saudi Pro League, UFC, Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, The Open Championship, Riyadh Season's Six Kings Slam for Netflix, and CBS’ UEFA Champions League and Europa League programming.

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