Media

Mark Shapiro joins IMG unit

Mark Shaprio

WME/IMG is making it official, hiring its long time advisor Mark Shapiro as chief content officer, at its IMG unit.

Shapiro, best known for his stint running programming at ESPN, will join the firm in a newly created role aimed at identifying new revenue opportunities across IMG’s businesses which encompass sports, fashion, model representation and events.

Shapiro was most recently CEO and an executive producer at Dick Clark Productions. He was also CEO at Six Flags Entertainment Corporation prior to that.

Shapiro’s sports experience lead him to become an advisor to WME bosses Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell as the Hollywood agency began its chase of IMG. WME backed by Silver Lake acquired the firm for $2.4 billion, closing the deal in May.

WME/IMG confirmed the news to staff in a memo today.

Shapiro is currently on the board of Live Nation Entertainment, Frontier Communications and Papa John’s International.