IMG stay on board for RWC 2007

Appointed till 2011

Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWCL) has reappointed IMG and its television arm TWI as its commercial brokers for the next two Rugby World Cups, the tournament to be held in France in 2007 and the tournament to be held in 2011. The re-appointment follows the commercial success of Rugby World Cup 2003 from which revenues generated by broadcasting, sponsorship and licensing reached record levels.

As a result of the deal IMG/TWI act as event consultants and involves the sale of TV rights, sponsorship, hospitality, ticketing, licensing, merchandising, new media and archive sales.

Syd Millar, the chairman of RWCL, said: "We are delighted to be continuing a partnership with IMG/TWI which began twelve years ago and which has covered the last three Tournaments. RWC is one of the great commercial success stories in sport and IMG has played a major part in helping us to achieve that success."

IMG were bidding against a number of the world's leading agencies and, in the final round of bidding, resisted a powerful challenge from TEAM, the commercial agents for the UEFA Champions League.

Mike Miller, the managing director of RWCL based in Dublin, said: "The bidding process was fiercely competitive and we are confident that IMG/TWI have the resources, the experience and the creative skills to take rugby's premier event to even higher levels."

Bill Sinrich, the CEO of TWI, said:" What we offered was the continuity of an experienced team of people, married to fresh thinking for a vision that would take this prestigious event to an even higher level."

Julian Brand, Senior International Vice-President at IMG, said: "This is a continuation of an extremely successful partnership which began in 1995 in South Africa, and continued through the tournament in 1999, followed by the 2003 event in Australia which has seen the sport reach record levels of popularity. As a result 2007 and 2011 look certain to eclipse that success."

IMG/TWI is also helping the International Rugby Board with a number of other properties including the Women's Rugby World Cup, the Under-21 and Under-19 World Championships and IRB 7 Series.