IMG and China Central Television (CCTV) Announce Historic, 20-Year Exclusive Joint Venture

BEIJING and NEW YORK, NY, Jul 31 (MARKET WIRE) --
IMG Worldwide, Inc., the global sports and entertainment company, and
China Central Television (CCTV), the world's largest television
broadcaster, today announced the formation of a ground-breaking joint
venture to create, develop and promote world-class sporting events and
sports programming across China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
The joint venture has a 20-year term and is exclusive to IMG and CCTV. It
also marks the first time that a company based outside of China (IMG) has
been chosen to participate in an exclusive, multi-year, multi-sport joint
venture with CCTV.

The historic partnership, 'CCTV-IMG Sports Management Company,' will own
and produce a series of live sporting events and television/multimedia
programming that will serve as a completely new platform for a broad range
of corporate sponsors in the region following the Beijing 2008 Olympic
Games. IMG's extensive knowledge and depth of experience in designing,
staging and operating sporting events will be linked with the unrivalled
influence and expansive reach of CCTV and its 17 national channels and
array of cable networks, which combined currently reach more than one
billion people. The joint venture will be headquartered in Beijing.

In making the announcement, IMG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ted
Forstmann, said, "Today we are bringing together two international
companies with unparalleled global reach. Pairing IMG's expertise in
creating and developing high-profile sporting events with the
unprecedented reach of China Central Television, China's leading
television broadcast and media company, will generate many different
opportunities to enhance the sports and media landscape in China.
'CCTV-IMG Sports Management' will be a formidable international brand --
capable of developing compelling sports and entertainment content for
many years to come."

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, a partner of IMG's in this venture and the author of
the biography of China's former president Jiang Zemin and a forthcoming
book commemorating China's 30 years of reform and opening up, said, "Since
sports are a vital part of the modern world, and as China emerges as a
great nation, the time has come for China to have a world-class sports
management company. In the context of President Hu Jintao's vision of
building a 'Harmonious Society' in China, sports are important for
enriching the quality of life of the Chinese people, and our joint venture
will create and build new sporting events for them to enjoy. I am proud to
be a partner of Ted Forstmann, a true visionary, in our new CCTV-IMG joint
venture, which will bring the best of world sports to China and take the
best of China's sports to the world."

Sun Yusheng, Executive Vice President of CCTV, said, "For China, 2008 is
the year of the Olympics; our sports and media industries have great
potential. As the world's premier sports, entertainment and media company,
IMG boasts rich experience in sports event management and talent
representation. Leveraging the combined strengths of CCTV and IMG, our
joint venture will bring the best sporting events and sports management
methodologies to China. Equally important, 'CCTV-IMG Sports Management
Company' will serve as the bridge between Chinese sports, sports culture
and media, and the world."

Li Jian, President, China International Television Corporation (CITVC),
the business arm of CCTV, said, "The CCTV-IMG joint venture marks a
milestone in the international development of China's sports industry. It
will help us to better utilize China's domestic resources and strongly
enter the international market. As with the Olympic motto -- 'Faster,
Higher, Stronger' -- the synergy of our two companies will create faster
growth, higher standards and a stronger global player."

Jiang Heping, Managing Director and President of CCTV Sports, and chairman
of the CCTV-IMG joint venture, stated, "The friendship between CCTV and
IMG goes back decades. Our years of cooperation lay a solid foundation
for this partnership. Television has been a catalyst for change and
growth in sports, and CCTV 5, as the leader in sports media in China
(with an 80 percent share of the sports broadcasting market), has been at
the forefront. China's abundant sports resources and huge market give us
an enormous opportunity for growth, and makes sports one of China's key
competitive industries worldwide. We are determined to take the lead in
China's sports industry."

Ruan Wei, Managing Director, CCTV Sports Promotion, Corp., and CEO of the
joint venture, added, "IMG's worldwide leadership in the ownership and
management of sports events and as a producer and distributor of sports
content speaks volumes. For CCTV Sports to leverage this platform enhances
China's sovereign and proprietary sports rights, domestically and
internationally, and enables premier sporting events to be developed and
broadcast in China."

IMG is the world's largest independent producer and distributor of sports
content. In countries around the world, IMG partners with leading
marketers and media networks to help companies grow their businesses
through IMG's unrivalled portfolio of sports event properties, sports
media production, expansive distribution network and talent brands, as
well as the company's consulting, sales and licensing services.

Over its long history, IMG has advised many of the world's leading sports
governing bodies, sporting events and cultural organizations. Recently,
IMG collaborated with the Board of Control for Cricket to create the
Indian Premier League, one of the most significant sports and
entertainment initiatives ever introduced in India. IMG has advisory
agreements with the International Rugby Board's 'Rugby World Cup' event
and the Olympic Council of Asia's 'The Asian Games.' In addition, IMG
advises the International Olympic Committee, the All England Lawn Tennis
Club (Wimbledon), the United States Tennis Association, the Australian
Open, the European Tour, the FA Premier League, the International Skating
Union, Le Mans 24 Hours and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St.
Andrews, among many others. Additionally, IMG owns or manages more than
4,000 events around the world each year, (an average of more than twelve
events each day).

About China Central Television (CCTV)

China Central Television (CCTV) is the national television enterprise of
the People's Republic of China. It operates 17 national channels, attracts
more than one billion viewers (over 90 percent of the population), and is
by far the largest television broadcaster in China. CCTV plays an
important role in the nation's education, information, culture,
entertainment, and social services. China International TV Corporation
(CITVC) is the wholly-owned business arm of CCTV and the most powerful
media enterprise in China; it operates numerous subsidiaries in
production, distribution, facilities, advertising, international sales,
audio and video publishing, pay TV, market research, technical
development, investment, and the like. CCTV 5 is the only national sports
network in China and has an 80 percent market share of China's television
sports industry. CCTV Sports Promotion Corp., the business arm of CCTV
Sports, focuses on sports media, events, partnerships and sponsorship,
including the production of many successful programs.

About IMG

IMG Sports Media is the world's largest independent producer and
distributor of sports programming, producing more than 8,000 hours of
television, online, mobile and radio sports content across 240 categories
of sports and distributes more than 15,000 hours of television annually.

IMG Sports & Entertainment's diverse businesses include: event ownership
and management; client representation in golf, tennis, European football,
rugby, cricket, motor sports, and Olympic and action sports; consulting
services; fashion events and models representation; licensing; and golf
course design. They also include IMG Academies which are the world's
largest, multi-sport training and educational facilities, delivering
world-class training experiences to more than 12,000 junior, collegiate,
adult, and professional athletes each year.

IMG Entertainment, the entertainment production and distribution division
of IMG Worldwide, is one of the world's largest independent producers of
drama, comedy, unscripted, fashion, documentary and children's content.
IMG Entertainment's production subsidiaries include the award-winning
Darlow Smithson Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions and Tigress
Productions.

For more information visit: www.imgworld.com.

Contact:
Anna Cordasco/Brooke Morganstein
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
(212) 687-8080

Jim Gallagher/Brian Weiss
IMG
(212) 774-6782

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