The great nemesis of many high school football programs isn't going anywhere.
Endeavor, the parent company of the Bradenton, Fla., based athletics factory, on Tuesday agreed to sell IMG to a Hong Kong-based private equity firm in a $1.25 billion all-cash deal.
The private equity firm (BPEA EQT) will fold IMG Academy in with another company it owns, Nord Anglia Education, which manages more than 70 private schools across the globe.
IMG Academy was previously owned by Endeavor, the parent company of UFC. UFC is in the process of merging with WWE, and so Endeavor is evidently devoting its attention toward creating the world's greatest combat sport company and away from training the next generation of athletes.
IMG Academy was founded in 1978 and made its name training future tennis champions and now sponsors teams in 17 sports.
In football, IMG sponsors three high school teams plus a post-graduate team. The National team claimed a 2020 national championship and numerous top five rankings, and as a whole the program has produced more than 140 college players.
In 2016, the president of the Texas High School Coaches Association penned an open letter rallying his colleagues against IMG. "At the current moment, IMG Academy has actively recruited three of our top Texas high school football players to play their senior season for their traveling football team. The reason given for these young athletes to attend this academy is to better prepare for the next level of competition. I adamantly disagree with that reasoning," Brenham (Texas) head coach Glen West wrote. "With every fiber of my body, I feel that the best people to prepare them for the next level are YOU, the COACHES IN THIS STATE. It is my opinion these athletes were cherry picked to attend these academies to build their resumes. The intent is for other athletes with big dreams to also attend these academies for a large price. The paying athletes would attend hoping for the same opportunities as those that were recruited. You, as the coaches, can stand proud knowing that WE are in this business not to profit off of our athletes."
Endeavor purchased IMG, the sports and entertainment giant of which IMG Academy is just a small part, for $2.4 billion in 2013.
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