Image: L-R, Ciaran Bone, VP, Channels & Content, IMG; Kelvin Tan, GEF Director of Esports; Rustam Aghasiyev, GEF Director of Global Events; Paul J. Foster, GEF CEO, Richard Wise, Senior VP, IMG; Kennie Chang, Senior Director, APAC, IMG; Chester King, VP, GEF; Joe Jenkins, Commercial Manager, Esports, IMG.

Global Esports Federation welcomes IMG as Strategic Partner

SINGAPORE, April 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Esports Federation today announces the appointment of IMG, a global leader in sports, fashion, events, and media, as its Strategic Partner. IMG will collaborate with the GEF and its Strategic Partner for Esports Services, FACEIT, to shape the inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships in Birmingham this August. IMG will also support and provide commercial consultancy for the second edition of the GEF's Flagship event – the Istanbul 2022 Global Esports Games in December.

IMG will utilize its expertise and global reach to further accelerate the rapid global expansion of the GEF's esports events portfolio, through the staging of live content, brand creation, event management, marketing, media distribution, and partnership rights management.

"We are proud to welcome IMG to our Global Esports family. This is an important strategic partnership, not only for the GEF and IMG, but for players, fans and brands around the world," said Lorenzo Giorgetti, Board Member and Chair of the GEF Brand, Marketing, Communications Commission. "We look forward to creating tremendous value for the GEF and our worldwide properties together."

Paul J. Foster, CEO of the GEF emphasized, "It's the connection and sharing of our human stories that are unlocking the superpowers of our time. We are proud to collaborate with IMG as we help to unite passionate brands with esports, sport, powerful technology and the Global Esports' limitless innovation. We have seen the magic that powerful partnerships can create for our community. In our #worldconnected community, we level up our collective strengths and unlock opportunities together. Our worldwide collective of GEF partners shares our optimism for the future and deep commitment to our community, elevating esports on the global stage."

Richard Wise, SVP, Content and Channels for IMG's Media Business, said, "This is an exciting year for the Global Esports Federation and esports in general, and we are delighted to bring our expertise in a wide range of areas to ensure these major events are successful. The world of esports has grown enormously in recent years and these two events will provide outstanding entertainment for fans all over the world."

In 2021, IMG signed a consultancy partnership with the Global Esports Games Organizing Committee and successfully staged the highly-anticipated inaugural Singapore 2021 Global Esports Games. The first-ever GEG attracted over 500 million accumulated views, including 4.4 million global live views during the two-day live event in Singapore.