Thanks. I read your link. I have follow-up questions to ask:
1. What did IMG Korea do and not do to Yuna---other than not finding sponsors but one bank---which led to the split between Yuna and IMG Korea?
2. Is it the entire IMG or just IMG Korea that is against IB Sports? I assume that IMG is an international company with various branches in many places in the world. Is it only IMG Korea that's against IB Sports? Or does the entire company have a bad relationship with IB Sports? Alternatively, does IB Sports have bad feelings towards the entire IMG or just IMG Korea?
3. Is it IB Sports that does not send Yuna to IMG-organized events or is it IMG that does not send their skaters to IB-organized events? Or both?
4. Suppose a skater like Shizuka, who does not seem to belong to either of them, hosts an ice show. Then can Yuna and IMG-related skaters participate in the show together? Or will they have the situation where either Yuna or IMG-related skaters have to decline/withdraw because of the presence of the other(s)?
5. Does Yuna have to do everything through IB Sports? Can she organize an ice show independent of IB Sports?
6. Can't skaters work independent of the preferences of their agencies? Suppose any of the IMG skaters says that he/she wants to participate in IB-organized events, can they really not? Alternatively, if Yuna says that she really wants to participate in IMG-organized events, can she really not?
Bennett, I will have to echo
Mrs. P that we can't answer all of these questions definitively unless we've seen Yu-Na's contract. All I can contribute are my musings/suppositions.
#1 It's my opinion that in the beginning, Yu-Na's leaving IMG Korea was nothing nefarious at all. When her contract with them was ended, she signed up with IB Sports, who probably proposed a better contract. It didn't quite work out with IMG Korea, so she opted for a new agency. I think this is reasonable. After all, when a skater/coach, skater/choreographer, skater/skater (pairs and ice dance), relationships don't work, the people involved looked for other people.
Common, a poster at Yu-Na Kim forum, said on the above-mentioned thread that IB had promised "to support the training fee in Toronto until 2010". This was in the off-season after 2007 Worlds. I honestly think this was a huge investment then.
I think the bad feelings came
after. Yu-Na had just become the bronze medalist at Worlds, her star was rising. Why on earth would they want to let her go? But they apparently didn't do much for her. According to Common's recounting of the events as he/she remembers, "What the agency said, 'We did our best, but the problem is that she lacks star quality.' " (Excuse me while I laugh hysterically at this statement.
Yu-Na not having star quality. Really, now. :sheesh
Common also said that there were articles where the IMG Korea representative said that they won't allow Yu-Na to do IMG-related ice shows in the future (I can't verify these articles, though, because I don't read Korean and am thus not able to do follow-up research). He/she noted though that he/she "heard IMG Korea a.k.a. IM doesn't have an influence on IMG head office in America." So maybe there's a chance that Yu-Na will perform in an IMG-related event in the future. And she
was slated to skate in the ill-fated Hyundai Card Super Match 2007, before fire forced the organizers to cancel. I think it's the aftermath of that one show, as detailed in
cooper's post (#30) on this thread, that cemented the ill will between the two agencies.
As for #2, I think it's just IMG Korea, not entire IMG.
About the #3 question, Shen and Zhao are IMG clients, but they skated in Yu-Na's show, so it is possible for skaters who are with one sports agency to perform in events organized by another. As for IB sports not sending Yu-Na to IMG organized events, Yu-Na herself was to skate in this Super Match back in 2007 (organized by IMG Korea and Sema, but she was with IB by that time), but the fire at the location (where she was supposed to skate with Plushenko and others) cancelled the show. Again, I refer to cooper's post (#30) on this thread. Yu-Na skated at a mall rink by herself after that fire to make up for it. She didn't have to; it's not like the fire and cancellation was her fault. But she skated because she didn't want to disappoint the Korean fans.
My
personal opinion is that while it's possible for skaters to perform in shows organized by another agency, it's probably not encouraged (but don't quote me on that, this is just my opinion
). I mean, if you signed up with one party, it makes sense that you most frequently perform in their events, right? It's like when a recording artist signs up for a label. Signing a contract with a company, implies to me, some sense of exclusivity.
Also, we have to take into account Yu-Na's schedule, endorsements and overall health. She had injuries in the earlier part of this quadrennial, and the ton of ice shows/long skating tour that other skaters do was probably not advisable for her. She also has ad campaigns/commercials, fashion photo shoots, sponsor's events she has to do/go to/consider. These endorsements are what makes her training abroad possible. The money she makes from these also help her fund the training of younger Korean skaters, as well as the huge donations she makes towards charitable causes. After spending a lot of time in the year training and competing abroad, she probably wants to cool her heels off in Korea during the off-season, when the pressure is much less. And she does want to see her friends and the rest of her family.
#4 question. I think it's definitely possible that Yu-Na will skate in a non-IB, non-IMG Korea show. But the past two years have been very hectic for her. If someone's made some overtures, Team Yu-Na probably had to turn it down because of conflict with schedules of both training and endorsement obligations. Again, this is my supposition. Perhaps in the future this will happen; after all Yu-Na is finally injury free, and there's definitely an international interest in the reigning Olympic champion.
#5 and #6 There's likely terms of exclusivity in her contract... Why would she want to
organize an ice show independent of IB Sports? They're her agency, and they've treated her well. My opinion is that you build loyalty to people who treat you well/decently, and as far I've seen, IB seems to be treating her like, well, a queen.
If Yu-Na really wants (as in badly) to participate in IMG-organized events, she probably could--after her agency has hammered out the very fine details.
But if you're a skater who signs up to one company, and say you want to participate in the activities of another, then why on earth did you choose one after all? You could have worked as a free agent. In my opinion, a client will prioritize the company he/she signed up with; this is reasonable and expected.
Edited to add: Hyundai Card Super Match organized by IMG Korea and Sema (event company)
Another edit: My mistake, it seems that Yu-Na's contract with IMG Korea was not supposed to expire in 2007, but that the contract had an exceptional clause that
"Yuna can move to the new agency anytime she wants when a better agency appears." This is from Common's post (#11) at this thread:
http://yunaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1506 So I'm editing this post accordingly. I apologize for my mistake.
