FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ $73 million contract with ISP Sports won’t be affected by IMG Worldwide, Inc.’s announcement Wednesday that it is acquiring ISP, Razorbacks Athletic Director Jeff Long said.
IMG is a global sports, entertainment and media company.
Arkansas and ISP are beginning the third year of a 10-year contract they agreed upon in August 2008 for ISP to be the media and marketing provider for Razorbacks sports. ISP’s affiliate with Arkansas is Razorback Sports Properties.
“We will work with the new company under our existing ISP agreement,” Long said. “Our contract remains intact, and we look forward to continuing to work together to grow our relationship and our brand.”
ISP’s client list includes more than 50 colleges, and Arkansas is among six SEC schools, along with Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.
IMG and ISP have approved and signed a definitive purchase agreement, the companies announced, but the final sale still must be approved by the U.S. Justice Department. Financial terms of IMG’s acquisition of ISP weren’t disclosed in an announcement of the deal.
Ben Sutton, ISP’s founder and chief executive officer, will continue to run the college sports division for IMG, according to a news release.
IMG announced its client list will be combined with ISP’s group and that the college division will be headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., which is ISP’s home base.
“I have had the opportunity to work with Ben Sutton on several occasions throughout my career and have great confidence in Ben’s leadership,” Long said. “I am pleased he will continue to serve as the president of the combined venture.”
Ryan Gribble, assistant vice president and general manager for Razorbacks Sports Properties, said no staff changes are planned and that he expects ISP’s sale to IMG to enhance marketing and sales opportunities for Arkansas athletics.
“This is going to give us more of a national platform to promote the Razorbacks,” Gribble said. “We’ll be able to do things on a much larger scale and compete with Major League Baseball and the NFL.”
Gribble noted that IMG is the SEC’s marketing provider.
“I would think that means we’ll be able to do even more for Arkansas directly with the SEC,” he said.
Long said the merging of ISP with IMG will allow Arkansas to “maintain its relationship with the premier multimedia rights holder in intercollegiate athletics.”
IMG’s college division will employee more than 700 people in 75 offices in the United States with annual sales of more than $400 million, according to a news release.
Sports, Pages 17 on 07/29/2010