IMG Acquires Majority Share in Sports Data Company Enetpulse

IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, has bought a majority share in Enetpulse, the global provider of live sports data.

Enetpulse is the exclusive worldwide distributor of official live scoring data for the ATP and the WTA, the organizers of the top men’s and women’s professional tennis tours.

This follows IMG’s recent strong minority share in a new joint venture with Bloomberg Sports to provide enhanced marketing, sales and production assistance for both the existing Bloomberg Sports analytics products, as well as a new series of projects.

Michel Masquelier, President of IMG Media, said: “IMG Media continues to adapt to the demands of the media landscape in order to maintain our position as the only sports agency that can service every aspect of media distribution on behalf of our clients.”

“The supply of data to the sports business world is becoming increasingly important and Enetpulse, with their progressive vision, excellent technological infrastructure, key federation relationships and industry expertise, is a company who are at the forefront of this market.”

“We have strong relationships within tennis, in particular with the ATP, so this is a good fit for IMG and our clients. We believe strongly that governing bodies, promoters or personnel should share in any revenue that involves data used for digital entertainment platforms and predictive analytics from their sport.”

Leo Noer, CEO of Enetpulse, said: “After 12 years of operation I am delighted to confirm that my team and I will now become part of the IMG family. This announcement marks an exciting next step in the history of Enetpulse and we are looking forward to fulfilling a key role within IMG Media.”

“As the exclusive worldwide distributor of live scoring tennis data for the ATP & WTA, Enetpulse are already at the forefront of an exciting and dynamic time for the global sports data market. As such, we welcome the opportunity to now being part of a company that shares our vision and desire to be the market leader in this space.”

Murray Swartzberg, Senior Vice President, ATP & WTA Tour, added: “We are delighted that IMG Media and Enetpulse will be working as one to maximize the potential of data from the ATP and WTA. IMG is a company that has a long and successful history in the world of tennis and I’m sure the expansion of its media operation into sports analytics will be a huge success as well.”

Since announcing the five-year ATP and WTA contracts in September 2011, Enetpulse have secured agreements with several major leading operators for the supply of its data.

Enetpulse will become the data arm of IMG Media, where its purpose will be to service data exploitation within the scope of the IMG broad media representation agreements with governing bodies.