IMG Bored with Pro Millions, Turns to College Sports

In an announcement made last week, the all-powerful IMG -- one of, if not THE leading sports talent agency in the world today -- announced that it would acquire the Collegiate Licensing Company from the Battle family, in a deal estimated to be in the neighborhood of $100-140 million (although terms were not formally disclosed, as both IMG and CLC are privately-held).

IMG represents an impressive roster of clients that includes Peyton Manning, Tiger Woods, LaDanian Tomlinson, Ronaldo, Maria Sharapova (pictured, b/c it was either that or a shot of a Peyton, Tiger or a TV studio), and Roger Federer. They also negotiate licensing rights for Major League Baseball, Wimbledon, the International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Golf Association, amongst others.

As if that all weren't enough, just yesterday they announced that they'd also be acquiring Licensing Partners International, who represents the PGA Tour, Churchill Downs, and the cash cow known as the Canadian Football League. In short, IMG is the big dog in the sports agency world, and shows no signs of slowing down.

What does this mean for you, the college sports fan?

Well, according to some industry insiders, the next logical step would be pushing further into the broadcasting rights realm, where CBS Collegiate Sports Properties, Host Communications, Learfield Sports, ISP Sports, and Nelligan are the big players who control the TV & radio rights to most of your NCAA sports. With IMG's many existing relationships, all sorts of "synergy" can be expected in the short-term -- one example cited was "a made-for-TV golf event that pairs a PGA Tour player with a college player from the same university. Former Florida player and PGA star Chris DiMarco, for example, might team with a current Gator player and compete against other pro-am teams representing other schools." I know what you're thinking -- "mmm, now that's what I call paradigm-shifting synergy!"

But in the longer term, college sports fans can hold out hope that a large player like IMG jumping into the mix in college sports will lead to an improvement in the media coverage and accessibility of college sports. While CBS's March Madness Online coverage has given us all a tantalizing taste into what Internet-based technology has to offer the collegiate sports fan, overall, the NCAA has a long way to go to catch up to the likes of Major League Baseball -- whose MLB.tv continues to lead the way when it comes to examples of technology offering new levels of access to the fan.

Most sports fans haven't necessarily stockpiled a lot of love for the sports rep/agency world, and understandably so. But in this case, IMG's involvement gives us at least some optimism. With the cash-sniffing bloodhounds IMG leading the way, perhaps NCAA teams can head down a road similar to that of MLB.tv.

My fellow sports fans, I envision a world where all our teams' games -- whether it's football, basketball, or even offering up the lesser-promoted sports like baseball, hockey, and track, to name a few -- can be seen at rates more competitive than the $15-20/game that ESPN GamePlan currently offers.

IMG -- this is your task. Make it happen.