On the first day of Sportel 2025, SVG Europe caught up with Chris Guinness, EVP, global head of commercial, rights at IMG, to discuss the global media rights landscape, the balance between traditional broadcasters, D2C models and digital platforms, and IMG’s priorities in Monaco – including selling the vision of Dana White’s recently launched Zuffa Boxing.

SVG Europe: As media rights valuations fluctuate across sports and regions, what are the biggest forces shaping the value of global media rights?

Chris Guinness: The rights business is polarising, with premium rights remaining incredibly important. Therefore, it’s very important that we as an organisation protect, maintain and even grow that premium rights portfolio, because secondary and tertiary content is becoming harder to extract top value for, and so the rights holders that would be represented in those categories have to find different ways of targeting the consumer.

So what it does for us – and I think this is very fundamental to the change in us as an organisation – is that we are no longer a transactional agency, pure and simple. Instead, we see ourselves much more as a strategic advisor, someone who can advise rights holders and media platforms as to how to take advantage of the evolving sports rights matrix.

But, at the same time, where required, we’ll still be involved in selling rights, but it’s among a far greater, more integrated offering, and we see that as being fundamental to our change.

We’ve got this incredible network that we have globally, but that’s not enough anymore. That network has to evolve, because the world is shifting. It’s changing, and of course, there are the trends of pay TV being in decline.

Streaming is coming to the fore, but it’s not necessarily as simple to say one’s going to replace the other. And, lest we forget, in the US, linear TV is still massively, massively important.

“They play down their position as a competitor to the traditional media platforms, but make no mistake, they are a competitor. However, their audiences and their ability to aggregate that sports audience is absolutely phenomenal”

But I think that’s where we’re taking advantage of the network we have to deliver the message that rights holder ‘X’, or media platform ‘Y’ don’t regard us as an agency purely for a transaction. Instead, they regard us as a partner, or an architect – someone who can help you target the audience you’re looking for and look at potentially new distribution models.

SVG Europe: And when you say that network must evolve, what do you see it evolving to become?

Chris Guinness: The beauty of what we have is local people on the ground all over the world with relationships that are second to none.

But, as much as they are empowered because they have knowledge of their markets, they have to acknowledge that the market in which they’re operating is also changing. So, it’s no longer sufficient for us to have a group of salespeople who are just selling rights. Our world requires that group of people to understand all aspects of our business, including production, digital branding, partnerships, etc, because we are very much offering and presenting ourselves as this integrated solution.

SVG Europe: How do you see the balance shifting between traditional broadcasters, DTC models, and digital-native platforms?

Chris Guinness: One very big example is YouTube. And while, of course, it is the case that they are acquiring content in the US, broadly speaking, they’re still not buying content, and I don’t necessarily think that’s going to change anytime soon.

But what they do have is the ability to aggregate a sports audience, not just for short form, but for long form content which they’re increasingly saying they’re interested in. And that’s an illustration of how we now have to embrace them completely, and we have to find ways of monetising and distributing that content.

They’re very keen to point out that they’re not cannibalistic, and they play down their position as a competitor to the traditional media platforms, but make no mistake, they are a competitor. However, their audiences and their ability to aggregate that sports audience is absolutely phenomenal.

We have a very good relationship with them through the UFC and WWE, and their YouTube channels do incredibly well which is beneficial for us, but we now have to look at how to combine brands with content to distribute – certainly the secondary and tertiary content – in a different manner.

SVG Europe: As rights holders expand competitions, formats, and international reach, how can sports properties balance the need for growth while maintaining scarcity, value, and fan engagement?

Chris Guinness: It’s a great question. If we look at a country like Indonesia, the Indonesian Football League has been very challenged for a whole host of reasons, but the fact is it’s the only league in Asia that out rates the Premier League. So, it’s not simply a case of someone like the Premier League thinking that they can just sell their content and immediately be relevant. They have to make sure that they remain visible and relevant to parts of the world where they aren’t necessarily as strong as they are elsewhere. Obviously, they remain a premium brand, and they’re seeing tremendous growth, but there are pockets of the world where they’re not necessarily the top dog. And so, the question is how do you evolve that? And how do you change?

SVG Europe: And finally, what are you – and IMG more broadly – focusing on here at Sportel 2025?

Chris Guinness: We’ve got the new Zuffa Boxing project that we’ve launched which we are talking to people about; that’s one absolute priority. Also, we continue to work very closely with the UFC across the board in terms of selling their rights. And there are parts of the world where renewals are upcoming. I think we’d be much more involved in WWE if they hadn’t done the Netflix deal, but we’re still very immersed with them. So broadly, we have the priorities of the rights that we represent and the various renewals that we have to do, but at the same time acknowledging that now being part of TKO brings us even closer together in the context of selling the premium rights that they have.

At the moment, you could say we’re selling a bit of a dream; we’re trusting in Dana’s (Dana White – UFC CEO and Zuffa Boxing founder) vision about how he wants to transform sport. It’s going to be a building process, but that’s definitely one very overt area of focus. And I think broadly, we want to deliver the message as to why moving into TKO and now being part of a pure sports play, and the integration that involves is the perfect home for us. To be so integrated across many different areas, brand partnerships, digital production, etc, is tremendous.