Account Director, Sports - Brand Consulting

The Role

The CAA Brand Consulting Account Director will play a key role with one of our Brand Consulting clients. The Director will lead the strategic management and day-to-day execution of a premier collegiate sports sponsorship portfolio on behalf of the agency and its clients. Serving as the primary client lead, this role is responsible for developing partnership strategies, negotiating commercial agreements, managing integrated sponsorship activations, and delivering measurable business results across a broad range of collegiate properties. The candidate will run a specific sports vertical and lead strategy, identification, negotiation and management of partnership(s).  Additionally, the candidate will manage a junior team and interface with the client while working cross-functionally with internal/external partners, vendors, clients and agencies. 

Partnership Strategy & Management

• Provide senior leadership in the day-to-day management of collegiate partnerships, with a focus on NCAA, conferences, universities, athletic departments, NIL initiatives, and campus engagement platforms.

• Develop and lead comprehensive partnership strategies, identifying, communicating, and maximizing sponsorship assets to deliver measurable value for clients and successfully secure stakeholder buy-in.

• Leverage established relationships across the collegiate athletics ecosystem, including universities, conferences, multimedia rights holders, agencies, and governing bodies.

• Lead negotiations for sponsorship agreements, marketing rights, naming rights, and partnership renewals, demonstrating a proven history of delivering successful commercial outcomes.

• Direct management of collegiate sponsorship portfolios, serving as the primary point of contact for university partners, conference leadership, rights holders, clients, and agency partners at the executive level.

• Own and manage senior client relationships, serving as a trusted strategic advisor throughout the partnership lifecycle.

• Lead cross-functional planning and execution of integrated sponsorship campaigns, campus activations, hospitality programs, student engagement initiatives, and experiential marketing efforts.

• Partner with Data & Analytics teams to establish partnership KPIs, measurement frameworks, ROI reporting, and optimization strategies.

• Collaborate with Creative, Experiential, Social, PR, Digital, and Insights teams to ensure all partnership objectives are achieved.

• Identify new collegiate sponsorship opportunities across athletics, campus life, NIL, women's sports, esports, and emerging properties that align with client objectives.

• Mentor, develop, and manage junior team members while fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture.

Events & Activation

• Attend collegiate sporting events, championship tournaments, conference meetings, sponsorship summits, and client activations throughout the year.

• Lead the planning and execution of bowl game entitlement programs, ensuring contractual rights are fulfilled across branding, hospitality, media, digital, on-site activations, and executive stakeholder engagement.

• Serve as the senior lead on multi-agency activation teams for major collegiate events, coordinating with university stakeholders, conference partners, production teams, and experiential agencies to ensure flawless execution.

• Oversee sponsorship activation planning from concept through execution, ensuring all contractual assets are fulfilled and client objectives are exceeded.

• Support hospitality programming, VIP experiences, on-campus events, and student engagement initiatives tied to partnership objectives.

• Bachelor's Degree preferably in Marketing, Communications, Business or similar discipline.

• 8–10+ years of experience in sports marketing, sponsorship consulting, brand partnerships, collegiate athletics, media rights, or a related agency, property, conference, or brand environment.

• Extensive experience developing and managing college sponsorship programs across NCAA institutions, conferences, athletic departments, or collegiate media rights organizations.

• Demonstrated experience managing bowl game entitlement sponsorships, including strategic planning, contract negotiation, rights management, activation execution, stakeholder coordination, hospitality, and partner fulfillment.

• Established relationships throughout the collegiate sports landscape, including universities, conferences, athletic administrators, multimedia rights holders, and industry partners.

• Proven ability to develop partnership strategies that drive client investment and long-term commercial success.

• Demonstrated experience negotiating complex sponsorship agreements and managing partnerships from contract execution through activation and renewal.

• Exceptional client service and relationship management skills across clients, partners, internal stakeholders, and external agencies.

• Experience leading, mentoring, and developing high-performing teams.

• Strong understanding of collegiate athletics, NCAA regulations, NIL opportunities, student-athlete marketing, and the evolving college sports landscape.

• Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office Suite.

• Experience managing sponsorship budgets, forecasting, and financial reporting.

• Ability to lead and execute integrated sponsorship programs across universities, conferences, governing bodies, student organizations, and talent partnerships.

• Recognized as a strategic thought leader capable of influencing clients and senior stakeholders with data-driven recommendations.

• Highly collaborative, solution-oriented, and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment.

• Willingness to travel extensively and work evenings and weekends as required by collegiate sporting events and client activations.

• Outstanding verbal, written, presentation, and executive communication skills.

• Agency experience highly preferred 

• Experience in tech/AI, a plus

Location

This role will be located in our New York or Los Angeles office. The Brand Consulting department offers a flexible work schedule and requires a minimum three days per week on-site.

Compensation

The annual base salary for this position is in the range of $115,000 to $165,000. This position also is eligible for benefits and discretionary bonus. Ultimately, the salary may vary based upon, but not limited to, relevant experience, time in role, business sector, and geographic location, among other criteria. Please talk with a CAA Recruiter to learn more.