July 19, 2011

Akron Athletics Partners with IMG College Ticket Solutions

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron Department of Athletics has agreed to a multi-year partnership with IMG College Ticket Solutions, which will manage the school’s athletics ticket sales with a full-time, professionally trained staff located within its on-campus ticket office.

At Akron, IMG College will sell tickets for five sports, with a major focus on sales for the football program, which now competes on campus at new InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field. In addition to football, UA also sells tickets for men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s soccer. The Zips men’s soccer team is the defending national champion.

“More than 90,000 alumni live within 90 minutes of our University, and we look forward to welcoming them back to campus for games at our new football stadium, our renovated soccer facility and our basketball arena," Akron Director of Athletics Tom Wistrcill said. “We are excited to partner with IMG College Ticket Solutions to increase home attendance and expand our fan base. IMG has grown our sponsorship dollars considerably year after year, and we look forward to seeing a similar trend with ticket sales.”

Leading IMG’s sales staff will be General Manager Anthony DiFino, who comes to Akron after serving as Assistant Athletics Director for Ticket Operations at the U.S. Military Academy Athletics Department.

IMG College, formerly ISP Sports, has managed Akron’s multimedia rights for the past five years, including oversight of corporate sponsorships and signage in its athletics venues, and coordination of the school’s radio network.

“Akron is committed to providing the best resources for its student-athletes and a great experience for its fans,” said Matt DiFebo, Vice President of IMG College, who sold his pioneering ticket sales company DiFebo Company to IMG to become part of its newly created Business Ventures Division. "We look forward to a strong partnership and working proactively to provide exceptional customer service to these passionate fans while helping Akron Athletics grow its fan base.”

UA is one of six NCAA Division-I schools to have partnered with IMG College Ticket Solutions, joining Duke, San Jose State, Temple, Tennessee and Texas San Antonio.

IMG College is the leading multimedia, marketing and licensing/brand management company in America representing more than 200 of the nation’s top collegiate properties including the NCAA and its 89 championships, NCAA Football, leading conferences, and many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the country. Headquartered in Winston Salem, N.C., IMG College employs 700 people in nearly 100 offices throughout the U.S. with annual sales of nearly $450 million. IMG College is the leader in capturing consumer devotion to college sports through partnership opportunities in multimedia rights, licensing, events and hospitality, marketing, stadium and arena development, stadium seating solutions, ticketing, sales, and consulting. IMG College produces nearly 30,000 hours of radio programming on the largest sports network in the country, manages nearly 5,000 hours of local television programming, is the leading publisher of college sports publications, and is the largest manager of university athletic websites. IMG College is a division of IMG Worldwide, a global sports, fashion and media business. For more information, please visit www.imgworld.com.