Director, Sponsorship Account Management at EverWonder Studio
United States
$150k - $175k
<p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; padding: 0in;">Job Description</span></strong></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; padding: 0in;">Company: Players Era</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Title: Director, Sponsorship Account Management</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Reports to: Chief Business Officer</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Salary Range: $150,000 - $175,000 annually (depending on experience), plus annual discretionary bonus </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Long Term Incentives: Eligible for review for participation in the Players Era equity option plan</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Start Date: Flexible</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Location: New York City area preferred, but open to remote. Regular time in Las Vegas will be required for all Player’s Era events</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Travel: Approximately 25-35%, concentrated August through December</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; padding: 0in;">Company Overview</span></strong></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 16.1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Players Era is the company rewriting the economics and the experience of college sports. Founded in 2024 by EverWonder Studio and Seth Berger, Players Era built the first athlete-first event platform in the country, guaranteeing student-athletes mid-seven figures in name, image and likeness opportunities each year while delivering the best programs, matchups and coaches to a national audience.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 16.1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">From an eight-team men's basketball debut in Las Vegas, the platform has grown into a year-round slate of premium properties: the Players Era Volleyball Showcase (August, T-Mobile Arena), the Players Era Men's Championship (24 teams and 37 games across Thanksgiving week, the largest non-NCAA tournament in college basketball history), the Players Era Women's Basketball Showcase (December, six of the top programs in the sport) and the Eternal City Tip-Off in Rome. Games are staged at MGM Resorts venues on the Las Vegas Strip and distributed nationally by ESPN and FOX Sports.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 16.1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">We are a small, senior team with an outsized footprint, and we build our events with a network of best-in-class partners across production, broadcast, hospitality, sales and communications. If you want to help define what the business of college sports looks like for the next decade, this is the place.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; padding: 0in;">The Role</span></strong></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 16.1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Players Era is hiring a Director, Sponsorship Account Management to own the relationships at the center of our commercial business. You will be the primary day-to-day counterpart for the senior brand and agency decision-makers across our partner portfolio, spanning the Players Era Volleyball Showcase, the Women's Basketball Showcase and the Men's Championship, and you will be accountable for how each of those partnerships performs, grows and renews.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 16.1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">This is not a coordination seat. Our partners are buying a multi-event platform, a national media footprint and direct access to the biggest names in college sports, and they expect a counterpart who understands their business objectives as well as they do. The Director sets the strategic agenda for each account, translates contracted rights into programs that matter to the brand, keeps leadership on both sides aligned, and builds the case for expansion long before the renewal conversation begins. You will work daily with Players Era's senior leadership team and with Jigsaw Labs, our lead agency, which drives strategy and execution for the entire sponsorship sales function; the Director is the connective point between what Jigsaw sells, what leadership commits to and what the partner experiences. You will also work in close partnership with the Senior Manager, Account Activation, who owns contractual delivery and execution quality.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 6pt; line-height: 18.4px; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 16.1px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">The right candidate has run sponsorship accounts on the agency or property side, is comfortable in the room with CMOs and agency leads and thinks about a partner's twelve-month plan the way an owner would.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>What you will do:</strong></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt;"> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Own the relationships.</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;"> Serve as the senior day-to-day contact for brand, agency and league-side partner stakeholders across the Players Era portfolio, setting the cadence of weekly calls, quarterly business reviews and executive touchpoints, and ensuring every conversation moves the partnership forward.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Set account strategy</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">. Develop an annual partnership plan for each account that connects the partner's brand and business objectives to Players Era's platform: media, on-site presence, athlete and NIL content, hospitality and digital. Own the plan, the timeline and the budget.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Drive expansion and renewal</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">. Build the commercial narrative for growth from the first day of the term. Identify white-space within each relationship, package incremental opportunities across events, and lead renewal strategy and negotiation in partnership with the Chief Business Officer and Jigsaw Labs.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Be </span></strong><strong>a</strong><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;"> strategic voice</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">. Provide proactive counsel to partners on how to show up in college sports, and bring the outside-in view back to Players Era: category trends, competitive activity, best practices from other properties, and the corporate moves that signal risk or opportunity within the portfolio.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Produce client-ready thinking.</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;"> Author points of view, recommendations, activation plans, mid-season updates and end-of-year wrap reports that demonstrate the partnership delivered against its objectives, with measurement and proof of performance supplied by the activation team.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Protect the brand and the contract.</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;"> Oversee the review and approval of partner creative, communications and use of Players Era marks, ensuring partners are represented accurately and in line with contractual provisions and league, venue and broadcaster requirements.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Orchestrate internally</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">. Represent the partner's priorities across Players Era's team services, marketing, content, ticketing and communications functions, and with our external creative, production, hospitality and sales partners, so that the partner experiences one coordinated organization.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Partner with Jigsaw Labs and senior leadership.</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;"> Operate as the account-side counterpart to Jigsaw Labs on sales strategy, pipeline, proposals and term sheets, bringing live account insight to pricing, packaging and category decisions, and keeping Players Era's senior leadership team informed and aligned on the health of every partnership.</span></span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Work with content and production. </strong>Work closely with the Players Era content and production team on all brand projects and partner deliverables, from athlete and NIL content to broadcast integrations and on-site creative, so that partner programs are integrated appropriately in our digital content.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;">Lead people.</span></strong><span style="line-height: 15.4px; color: black;"> Mentor and develop account team members and coordinators, set expectations, and model the standard of client service the portfolio requires.</span></span></li> </ul> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: normal; font-size: medium; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: start; white-space: normal; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-style: solid;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="border: 1pt windowtext; padding: 0in;">What We're Looking For</span></strong></span></p> <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 3pt;"> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">7–10 years of sponsorship account management experience at a sports property, league, agency or brand, with at least three years leading senior client relationships directly.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">A track record of growing accounts: measurable renewals, upsells or multi-property expansions that you can speak to specifically.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Direct experience negotiating sponsorship agreements, including rights, categories, media commitments and make-goods.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Fluency in the business of sports and sports media: how brands value inventory, how media is measured, and how a property's platform competes for marketing dollars.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Strong understanding of college athletics, NIL and the current landscape of athlete-driven marketing is strongly preferred; global or major-league sponsorship experience is a plus.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Exceptional written and verbal communication, and the ability to build a persuasive deck, a crisp email and a difficult phone call with equal skill.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Comfort operating with autonomy inside a small, fast-moving company, managing multiple accounts and deadlines in parallel without losing the details.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Advanced proficiency in PowerPoint and Excel; experience with CRM systems and partnership measurement platforms.</span></li> <li style="margin: 0in 0in 3pt 0px; line-height: 110%; border-width: medium; border-color: currentcolor; border-image-slice: 100%; border-image-width: 1; border-image-outset: 0; border-image-repeat: stretch; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.4px; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: black;">Willingness to travel and to work event weeks, nights and weekends between August and December.</span></li> </ul>
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