Soccer-IMG and MLS arm win rights to Copa America centenary

* IMG and MLS marketing arm awarded rights to tournament
* Tournament had been in doubt after previous deal scrapped
* 16-team competition to be hosted in U.S., feature Brazil

By Simon Evans
Dec 2 (Reuters) - Sports marketing agency IMG and North
American company Soccer United Marketing (SUM) have been awarded
the commercial rights to next year's centenary Copa America
tournament in the United States, a spokesman for CONCACAF told
Reuters on Wednesday.
The deal comes after a tender which saw 12 firms submit bids
to handle the rights which include sponsorship arrangements and
a range of broadcast deals. The rights have been reawarded after
a corruption scandal surrounding the original winner.
SUM is the marketing wing of Major League Soccer (MLS) and
IMG, owned by talent agency WME, is a global player in sports
rights and the management of athletes.
The competition, to be played next June and feature
Argentina and Brazil, had been in doubt after the original
commercial deals featured in a U.S Department of Justice
indictment of soccer officials and sports marketing executives.
The 16-nation tournament is being jointly run by South
American confederation CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, the governing body
for North and Central America and the Caribbean, and will be the
highest profile official soccer competition played in the United
States since the 1994 World Cup.
The tournament was only made possible after the
confederations reclaimed the broadcast and sponsor rights from
Datisa, a marketing firm that featured in the DOJ indictments.
The U.S. Soccer Federation had made the cancellation of
contracts with Datisa and other deals a condition of hosting the
tournament in the U.S.
The original commercial rights for the tournament have been
a central part in the unfolding scandal that has embroiled FIFA,
world soccer's governing body.
Suspended CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb, who had been a
key figure in creating the 2016 tournament, was arrested in May
along with Eugenio Figueuredo and Nicolas Leoz, both
ex-presidents of CONMEBOL.
The three were among 14 football officials and sports
marketing executives who were indicted for racketeering,
conspiracy and corruption by the DOJ in May.
The three main shareholders in Datisa, Alejandro Burcazo,
Hugo Jinkis and his son Mariano Jinkis, were all indicted.
The DOJ indictment alleged the trio had paid up to $110
million in bribes for a series of lucrative media rights from
the two confederations.
The process for the replacement rights package was monitored
by a independent third party advisory firm from the United
States and CONMEBOL president Juan Angel Napout said that
approach would be a model for the future.
"We are very pleased to have participated in this process
along with CONCACAF and U.S. Soccer, for the commercial rights
of Copa America Centenario 2016," Napout said in a statement
issued to Reuters.
"This commitment is an integral part of the governance
reforms taking place at CONMEBOL in order to ensure transparency
and benefit all our member associations."
ESP Properties, a division of WPP (L:WPP), and SJX Partners, a
division of CSM Sports and Entertainment, will assist IMG and
SUM with sponsorship efforts for the tournament.
All 10 nations from CONMEBOL, including powerhouses
Argentina and Brazil, will play in the tournament while the
United States, Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica feature along with
two other CONCACAF teams.
The tournament will be held from June 3-26 in 10 venues
across the United States, the first time the world's oldest
continental tournament has been held outside of South America.