IMG Sports Media, Fox Sports International Strike Deal

IMG Sports Media to Exclusively Distribute Fox Sports International Programming in All Territories Outside of United States

By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/23/2008 8:00:00 AM

Big Ten Network has had its problems getting widespread carriage in the United States, but the network's owner, Fox Sports International, enlisted a powerhouse to distribute the college-sports network internationally.

IMG Sports Media will exclusively distribute FSI programming in all territories outside of the United States under terms of a deal announced Monday.

Fox Networks Group’ FSI represents a wide range of sports content including Bowl Championship Series college football (as well as the Cotton Bowl); Big Ten Network programming (including football and basketball); Fuel TV action-sports programming; FSN college football and basketball (Pacific 10, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference); Fox Soccer Channel properties; and third-party sports programs including the Everton FC Channel, Argentine soccer’s Torneo de Verano, the ASP Women’s Surfing Tour and the Skating Gold figure-skating series.

IMG Sports Media, the production and distribution arm of sports-representation giant IMG, distributes almost 18,000 hours of programming and has a library of more than 250,000 hours across virtually all sports. It will assume full distribution duties for the FSI catalog of more than 3,000 hours of content July 1.

“This agreement will help to expose audiences worldwide to the finest in sports-event coverage and feature programming from Fox-affiliated networks and our many content suppliers,” Fox Cable Networks executive vice president and chief operating officer of emerging networks David Sternberg said in a statement.

IMG Media executive VP and head of acquisition and sales worldwide Michel Masquelier added, “We look forward to leveraging our worldwide presence and extensive relationships with broadcasters, as well as our representation of premier properties, governing bodies and sporting events, to help Fox Sports International expand the reach and exposure of their comprehensive catalog of programming.”

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