Optimum Sports · 10 hours ago
Associate Director, Sports Marketing
Chicago, IL
Full-time
Hybrid
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
$110K/yr - $125K/yr
8+ years expOptimum Sports is the dedicated sports marketing agency within Omnicom Media Group, focused on delivering cohesive, multi-platform sports marketing strategies. The Associate Director will analyze, design, initiate, and oversee sponsorship marketing and ticketing strategies for assigned clients, ensuring alignment with client objectives and managing day-to-day execution.
AdvertisingBrand MarketingMarketingPublic RelationsSports
Responsibilities
Responsible for creating overarching sports strategy
Responsible for sponsorship asset/deal point and budget tracking
If funding is sourced from various LOBs, includes oversight across the portfolio
Detailed knowledge of all working budgets; accountability to address internal and client-based budget allocation questions and responsible for any budget reporting
Detailed knowledge of contractual assets; accountability to address internal and client-based allocation recommendations and management across cross-functional teams
Familiar with and staying up-to-speed on the evolving media and sponsorship landscape – related to sports-specific properties (e.g. leagues, teams, etc.) as well as the athlete/talent ecosystem – along technological advancements and best practices in media
Have base knowledge of the sports marketplace to identify new opportunities, areas of white space, vacant ownership positions, etc. that fit within the overarching client strategy and work in conjunction with internal teams to bring these to life
Oversee direct reports by managing workload, delegating responsibilities, checking work for accuracy and being their lead POC in terms of mentorship and growth development
Qualification
Required
Undergraduate degree required (preferably Marketing, Business, Sports Management or Communications)
8+ years' experience working in strategy with relevant experience in sponsorship marketing and direct client-facing access
4+ years of relevant experience in sports
Experience developing larger strategy presentations to help define approach on client objectives specific to the sports landscape
Experience across mainstream media channels (video, local, digital, social, custom content, etc.)
Strong communicator - both written and verbal - and presenter, in person and on conference calls
Extensive client facing experience
Highly organized, with the ability to manage and prioritize many simultaneous deliverables
Proficient in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Google Docs, Teams
Strong background in sponsorship marketing and media/sponsorship strategy, with experience in building out integrated recommendations across various budget scenarios
Strong ability to effectively communicate ideas in both a written and verbal setting
Ability to work well under pressure and deliver assignments under deadline
Industry knowledge and understanding of sports marketing and sponsorship landscape along with media vernacular and trends
Strong management skills and the ability to be a team leader
Self-sufficient, enthusiastic and proactively pursues assignment
Support direct reports in developing overarching strategy and tactical implementation
Co-lead broader sports strategy development for client education
Design materials (PPT presentations, POVs, etc.) that convey strategy supported with appropriate research, past observations that translate into optimizations, etc
Interpret relevant research from third party data, industry trades and additional sources
Primarily manage day-to-day comms with client POCs
Develop broad understanding of clients' business needs, KPI's, goals and objectives
Ability to work seamlessly across internal and external groups
Work directly with planning and investment teams to develop holistic client strategy
Promote use of data and other insight tools to build strategic recommendations
Collaborate with external agency partners on IAT deliverables including but not limited to a respective annual business planning, brand/master brand communications strategy, tactical recommendations, sponsorship and/or talent activations, etc
Responsible for creating overarching sports strategy
Responsible for sponsorship asset/deal point and budget tracking
If funding is sourced from various LOBs, includes oversight across the portfolio
Detailed knowledge of all working budgets; accountability to address internal and client-based budget allocation questions and responsible for any budget reporting
Detailed knowledge of contractual assets; accountability to address internal and client-based allocation recommendations and management across cross-functional teams
Familiar with and staying up-to-speed on the evolving media and sponsorship landscape – related to sports-specific properties (e.g. leagues, teams, etc.) as well as the athlete/talent ecosystem – along technological advancements and best practices in media
Have base knowledge of the sports marketplace to identify new opportunities, areas of white space, vacant ownership positions, etc. that fit within the overarching client strategy and work in conjunction with internal teams to bring these to life
Oversee direct reports by managing workload, delegating responsibilities, checking work for accuracy and being their lead POC in terms of mentorship and growth development
Preferred
Experience working on sports sponsorships and 360 activations is a plus, inclusive of local partnership stewardship (e.g., fulfillment, talent, hospitality)
Background in athlete/talent activation within broader sponsorship efforts a plus
Benefits
Health insurance
Vision insurance
Dental insurance
401(k)
Healthcare Flexible Spending Account
Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
Vacation days
Sick days
Personal days
Paid parental leave
Paid medical leave
STD/LTD insurance benefits
Company
Optimum Sports
Optimum Sports is a sports marketing agency for sports that has expertise in branding, investments, client relationships, PR and strategy.
51-200 employees
Funding
Current Stage
Growth StageLeadership Team
Dale Song
Chief Partnerships & Consulting Officer
Jeremy Carey
Chief Investment Officer
Recent News
Sports Business Journal
2026-01-17
Company data provided by crunchbase