World Rugby hires ex-IMG executive Godson to lead broadcast operations

World Rugby, the governing body for rugby union, has appointed Amanda Godson as its new broadcast operations manager.

Godson previously held the role of commercial manager of media rights and acquisitions at IMG Media, the international sports agency, departing the role in December 2020.

During her time at IMG, she acted as the broadcast venue manager at the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England and broadcast manager of the 2019 edition in Japan.

IMG is the commercial partner of World Rugby until the end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, in a deal that involves negotiating worldwide broadcasting rights deals, but the federation has been keen to strengthen its in-house expertise in a bid to maximise the value of its men’s and women’s showpiece tournaments.

Last year, Chris Synnott joined World Rugby as head of broadcast and media rights sales after quitting his role as director of media rights at WRC Promoter, the rights-holder of motor racing's World Rally Championship. 

Godson was also previously at UK-based production firm Whisper and was a broadcast manager at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

World Rugby last week committed to a minimum of 40 per cent female representation on its committees following an extensive governance review.

This comes in an important year for the women’s game, with their Rugby World Cup due to take place in New Zealand in September and October, following sevens, for both men and women, at the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games in July and August.

Last week, World Rugby appointed LiveWire Sport, the UK-based content agency, to a widened role leading its social channel management and paid media strategy.