Rugby league’s 12-year strategic partnership with IMG remains unchanged despite the company being sold as part of a multi-billion dollar deal, Love Rugby League has been told.

TKO Holdings, who run the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment, has agreed to purchase three businesses from Endeavor, the parent company of TKO.

That includes IMG, who have been sold to TKO for a sum of $3.25billion alongside other companies On Location and Professional Bull Riders.

The deal will be completed in the first half of next year and means IMG, which was bought by Endeavour back in 2013, will change hands – sparking fears of what the deal may mean for rugby league and its clubs, given the high-profile nature of the partnership between the two.

However, Love Rugby League has been told that it is very much business as usual. Key players such as current IMG President Adam Kelly will remain in post and the details of the sport’s partnership with IMG are completely unchanged.

The news comes in the week when the first official rollout of the gradings system went live, with Wakefield Trinity promoted to Super League at the expense of London Broncos.

IMG officials are expected to speak to the media in the coming weeks to discuss the success of the gradings system and what is likely to happen next in terms of the sport’s partnership with IMG, and potential next steps.

RL Commercial chief executive Rhodri Jones admitted this week that with gradings now embedded in the sport, there may need to be a ‘refocus’ of the partnership to ensure the sport gets a significant return on its investment with IMG.

Currently, the game pays a fee in excess of £400,000 per annum to IMG for its expertise, with ten years of the partnership still left to run. But despite the company making the headlines on Friday, there are no plans for rugby league’s relationship to be altered in the near future.

IMG also includes major sporting leagues such as the Premier League and the NFL among its clients.

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