Brent Richard, Chief Executive Officer, IMG Academy

In an interview with Invest:, Brent Richard, chief executive officer of IMG Academy, discussed the institution’s growth as a global leader in sports education. “We want to be the world’s leading education brand,” Richard stated, emphasizing their mission to deliver “life-changing experiences on campus and online.” The conversation covered IMG Academy’s recent expansions, its unique approach combining athletics with academics, and its vision for shaping the future of sports education.

What have been some recent milestones for IMG Academy?

We had a great year last year. We opened our fourth dorm and also built and opened a new student center on campus. We expanded our athletics program, adding girls’ softball, boys’ volleyball, and even launching an e-sports summer camp. New facilities and new offerings continue to enhance the student experience.

We were honored with global recognition last year, named a Global Experience Innovation Leader by Bain & Company and recognized by a global schools group as one of the top schools in the world.

We also launched IMG Academy Plus, our digital education platform that brings IMG Academy’s sports and academic programming to students anywhere in the world.

On the charitable front, it was a record-breaking year: more than $50 million in giveback. We believe we’re one of the most charitable K-12 organizations globally. Notably, we raised significant funds through our 501(c)(3) to support teachers and coaches in the Tampa Bay area following the hurricanes.

What makes the Tampa Bay area an ideal location for IMG Academy?

We’ve been here a long time — almost 50 years. That’s the evolution of IMG Academy, and we love Tampa Bay. It’s an amazing home, and my hope is that Tampa Bay could increasingly consider IMG Academy their home team. We’ve got the Rays, the Bucs, the Lightning, and while IMG Academy is a middle school and high school, we win our share of national championships, too. We won 10 national championships in the last five years.

We aim to be a proud part of the community that gets involved and has an impact — we are among the Top 3 private employers in Manatee County and support over 2,500 local jobs. We also bring in hundreds of thousands of annual visitors every year. Economic impact studies have forecasted we’ll bring $2.5 billion to the Tampa Bay area in the next five years.

What trends are you observing in youth sports in the education space?

You can’t separate sports from education. While there are clearly academic components to any education platform, sports is at its core. It teaches transferable skills that are essential for the future: resilience, perseverance, leadership, teamwork.

We believe IMG Academy is already the world’s most recognized sports education brand. I genuinely believe it’s also the most holistic education platform in the world, because of how we integrate sports and academics to deliver a truly comprehensive education.

Last year, 10 of our student-athletes matriculated to Ivy League colleges, and another 10 went on to play professional sports. One-hundred percent of our graduating class continued on to college.

That’s how I define sports education. And we’re well positioned to meet growing demand from parents and students who want sports and academics combined into one powerful educational experience.

What are the main challenges facing the sports education landscape today?

This is a great moment for sports education. Technology is a plus. AI is a plus. In some industries, and even in traditional education, we are seeing online data and AI create disruption and raise questions about lasting impact. But sports can only be played on the field. Teamwork and collaboration can only be learned on the field. The lessons of failure, winning, and losing require direct experience.

What is exciting is how technology expands access for student athletes. Our online coaching platform is a great example, delivering expert content and curriculum to more students than ever before. Data from youth sports is also helping identify talent more objectively, through measurable attributes like speed, strength, and performance.

We are also seeing alignment with World Economic Forum research on future skills. Despite advances in technology, three of the top five skills employers seek are leadership, resilience, and teamwork. As the world evolves, parents and students increasingly recognize the lasting value of these core transferable skills. This is a promising time for sports and for sports education.

What are your thoughts on the future of sports education?

An interesting development in the United States and internationally is that schools are increasingly defining education in terms of academic delivery and outcomes. At the same time, much of what I would call elite sports programming has shifted to the club level, outside of the traditional school setting. This trend has been unfolding for decades.

What I always emphasize is that sports matter deeply to overall education, and parents and students clearly value them. My advice to schools is simple: double down on athletics. Students want more athletic opportunities from their schools.

For club teams that have moved sports outside the academic environment, the most successful ones remember that it is ultimately about winning in life, not just on Saturdays. Parents and students see sports as a platform for personal growth.

I consistently encourage those in the club ecosystem to preserve the educational essence of sports. As the landscape evolves and both clubs and schools adapt, the key message remains: sports represent one of the most powerful growth opportunities for student athletes. Families are making it clear just how important that is to them.

What are your top priorities going forward?

What I always emphasize internally is our mission: we aim to be the world’s leading education brand. 

That mission comes down to two key priorities. First, we must provide exceptional experiences for families here in Florida through our boarding school and camps. Second, we need to launch new products, whether that means adding sports on campus or creating online programs that reach student-athletes around the world who cannot travel to Bradenton to experience IMG Academy in person.

Our mission is to deliver life-changing experiences on campus and online for any family that believes sport can change their life. Period. End of story.