SVP, Commercial, Studios, IMG in London

Who We Are: IMG is a leading global sports marketing agency, specializing in media rights management and sales, multi-channel content production and distribution, brand partnerships, strategic consulting, digital services, and events management. It powers growth of revenues, fanbases and IP for more than 200 federations, associations, events, and teams, including the National Football League, English Premier League, International Olympic Committee, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, ATP and WTA Tours, the AELTC (Wimbledon), Euroleague Basketball, CONMEBOL, DP World Tour, and The R&A, as well as UFC, WWE, and PBR.

The SVP, Commercial, Studios will lead the commercialisation and growth of IMG’s studios business within IMG’s global commercial structure. Reporting to the Chief Business Officer, the role will convert Studios’ production, content, technical and creative capabilities into scalable, profitable propositions for rights holders, broadcasters, platforms, brands and governing bodies.

The role will own the Studios commercial plan, revenue pipeline, forecasting, deal governance and commercial performance, working closely with Studios leadership to ensure opportunities are strategically aligned, operationally deliverable and margin accretive. A key priority will be to connect Studios more deeply into One IMG, building integrated propositions across rights, production, digital, data, brand partnerships and extend further into regional growth markets.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Commercial Strategy & Leadership: Develop and deliver the Studios commercial strategy aligned to overall IMG objectives. Identify and evaluate new revenue streams across sport content, formats, platforms, and territories. Act as a senior leader within the business, contributing to long‑term planning and company growth.
• Revenue Generation & Partnerships: Build and maintain strong relationships with broadcasters, platforms, rights holders, brands, agencies, and governing bodies. Lead negotiations for commercial deals for Studios. Maximise the commercial value of sports programming across linear, digital, social, and emerging platforms.
• Sales & Business Development: Oversee sales pipelines and ensure consistent delivery against revenue targets. Identify new clients, markets, and partnership opportunities both domestically and internationally. Pitch effectively to broadcasters, streamers, brands, and commercial partners.
• Rights & Monetisation: Work closely with editorial and production teams to ensure content is designed with clear commercial potential. Support acquisition, packaging, and exploitation of sports rights where relevant. Ensure optimal monetisation of owned and commissioned content.
• Team Management & Collaboration: Lead, mentor, and develop the commercial team, fostering a high‑performance culture. Collaborate closely with production, editorial, legal, and finance teams to ensure deals are deliverable, compliant, and profitable. Creates culture of commercial accountability.
• Financial & Contractual Oversight: Owns commercial forecasting, budgeting, and reporting alongside finance. Ensure robust commercial governance, contract management, and risk mitigation. Monitor market trends, competitor activity, and commercial performance.

Knowledge and Experience

• Essential: Proven senior commercial leadership experience within TV production, sports media, broadcasting, or digital content. Strong track record of closing high‑value commercial deals and partnerships. Deep understanding of the sports media landscape, including broadcasters, streamers, brands, and rights holders. Excellent negotiation, influencing, and relationship‑building skills. Exceptional business acumen with a proven track record of defining and executing commercial strategies that deliver profitable growth, strong margins, and long‑term value. Champions a culture of commercial innovation that accelerates growth, differentiation, and long‑term competitiveness. Highly effective people leader and collaborator with a proven ability to unite global, cross‑functional teams, influence at the executive level, and deliver enterprise commercial outcomes. Demonstrates operational excellence having previously run complex, multi-region or multi-channel commercial operations with consistency and scalability. Adept at balancing speed, quality, cost, and risk in high‑stakes commercial decisions. Partners with Finance, Operations, Technology, and People + Culture teams to align capabilities, systems, and talent with commercial priorities. Adept at balancing empowerment with governance to drive ownership and accountability at scale. Builds a culture of executional rigor, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Desirable: Experience working with sports rights, sponsorship, or branded content. International market experience. Established network across sport, media, and brand partners. Significant exposure to Middle East, African or American markets.

Skills and Abilities

• Personal Attributes: Strategic thinker with a hands‑on approach. Confident, credible, and persuasive with senior executive levels. Collaborative leadership style with the ability to balance creative and commercial priorities. Resilient and adaptable in a fast‑paced, deadline‑driven environment.

Working Conditions: This role will involve extensive travel and hours outside of the usual 9-5 so flexibility and responsiveness are a pre‑requisite.