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Jan 26
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Natalie Gulbis Signs With IMG
Thursday January 24, 9:19 am ET
LPGA Tour Professional Natalie Gulbis Chooses IMG for Worldwide Management and Marketing Representation
NEW YORK, NY–(MARKET WIRE)–Jan 24, 2008 — IMG, the world’s premier sports, entertainment and media company, today announced that LPGA Tour Professional, Natalie Gulbis, has selected IMG for worldwide management and marketing representation across all major platforms, including media, sponsorship, licensing, commercial endorsements and modeling.
In making the announcement, John Steele, Senior Vice President, IMG, said, “Natalie is one of those rare combinations of natural athletic prowess, beauty, charm and talent that can transcend her sport. Add IMG’s leading sports management, the top international modeling agency, global brand marketing and one of the world’s largest independent media production companies, and Natalie will be an even brighter star on the course and off.”
Gulbis said, “IMG works with some of the biggest icons in sports, fashion and entertainment, creating for them the kind of opportunities no other company can provide. With my success this past season on the course and my natural entrepreneurial spirit, IMG will help me reach my full potential, both professionally and personally. I couldn’t be more excited.”
About Natalie Gulbis
Of Latvian descent, the California-born Gulbis, 25, is one of the LPGA Tour’s breakout young athletes. She played in her first LPGA tour event as an amateur at the age of 14 and turned professional just four years later after one season on the women’s golf team at the University of Arizona.
Gulbis has consistently been a high earner on the LPGA money list and played on the winning United States Solheim Cup teams in 2005 and 2007. She placed in the top 10 in four consecutive major championships from the 2005 McDonald’s LPGA Championship to the 2006 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Her first professional win came in 2007 at the Evian Masters where she defeated Jeong Jang to claim the winner’s share of the $3 million purse.
Gulbis’ current endorsement agreements include TaylorMade, Adidas, Canon, Anheuser-Busch, Raymond Weil, Electronic Arts and 24-Hour Fitness. Her reality television series, “The Natalie Gulbis Show,” has run for three seasons on The Golf Channel.
Gulbis’ management team will be led by John Steele in New York.
More information about Gulbis is available at: Natalie Gulbis.
About IMG
IMG is the world’s premier sports, entertainment and media enterprise.
Operating in 30 countries, IMG’s diverse businesses include: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; and client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, speakers, European football, rugby, cricket, motor sports, coaching, Olympic sports and action sports. IMG Academies are the world’s largest and most advanced multi-sport training and educational facilities, delivering world-class sports training experiences to more than 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult, and professional athletes each year.
IMG’s media and entertainment operations include content production subsidiaries Darlow Smithson Productions and Tiger Aspect Productions. Globally, IMG produces and distributes more than 11,000 hours of sports, documentary, drama, comedy, entertainment, popular factual and children’s content annually. IMG also represents the broadcast rights to many of the world’s premier sporting events and has the world’s largest sports archive with more than 250,000 hours of footage.
Forstmann Little & Co. purchased IMG in 2004.
More information about IMG is available at IMG World.
Contact:
Contact:
Jim Gallagher
IMG
(212) 774-4419
Jim.Gallagher@imgworld.com
Brian Weiss
IMG
(212) 774-6782
Brian.Weiss@imgworld.com
Source: IMG
