Tim Pernetti’s yearning to get back into college athletics has landed him at IMG College.
The former Rutgers athletic director, who parted ways with his alma mater in 2013, will oversee IMG College’s multimedia business, which includes the rights to more than 90 colleges and conferences.
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Pernetti was chief business officer for new MLS team NYCFC.
Photo by: AP IMAGES
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While Pernetti spent the last 16 months building an MLS team from scratch in New York, he said he never lost the desire to return to college sports.
“With college sports being my true passion and such a core part of my makeup, this awesome opportunity to join the team at WME-IMG was impossible to refuse, particularly at this natural exit point as New York City FC embarks on the next stage of its development,” said Pernetti, who played tight end on the Rutgers football team.
Pernetti’s title at IMG College will be president of multimedia, a position created for him. He will report to both Ben Sutton, president and chairman of IMG College, and Jason Lublin, COO of WME-IMG.
Pernetti will lead a team of three direct reports: Andrew Judelson, senior vice president, national sales; Roger VanDerSnick, chief sales and marketing officer; and Joe Potter, senior vice president, operations. IMG College’s senior leadership team will include Jim Connelly from licensing and Mark Dyer, who oversees ancillary businesses, along with Pernetti, Judelson, VanDerSnick and Potter.
Sutton’s pursuit of Pernetti goes back a few months, and a series of meetings in New York helped shape Pernetti’s role. He will take over the day-to-day oversight of the multimedia business, which represents more than 60 percent of IMG College’s earnings. The rest of that revenue comes from licensing and ancillary businesses such as ticketing, seating and hospitality.
Sutton’s relationship goes back to Pernetti’s days in 2003 as a television executive at CSTV, which later became CBS College Sports.
“Tim’s a true expert in collegiate athletics and multimedia rights,” Sutton said. “Combine that with his entrepreneurial approach and outstanding leadership abilities and he’s the perfect fit for this role.”
Pernetti joins IMG College at a time when the company has been seeking a president to oversee the entire business. IMG College offered the president’s position to ESPN executive Burke Magnus in December, but so far ESPN is holding Magnus to his contract, which runs into next year.
Pernetti’s hiring is not expected to preclude IMG College from pursuing an overall president in the future. Pernetti will begin his job with IMG College in March.
At Rutgers, Pernetti led the Scarlet Knights’ move into the Big Ten, but his alma mater came under scrutiny when basketball coach Mike Rice was accused of abusive behavior toward his players and was fired. Pernetti resigned after a four-year run as the AD in the aftermath of the Rice firing.
For the last 16 months, Pernetti has been chief business officer of NYCFC, which is scheduled to play its first season in MLS this year.
NYCFC, meanwhile, announced that Tom Glick has been promoted to president of the club. A veteran of 25 years in sports management, Glick had been chief commercial and operating officer of Manchester City. He previously served as president and CEO of Derby County in the English Premier League. He’s also had roles in the NBA and minor league baseball. Glick will oversee all aspects of NYCFC’s day-to-day business.
