General Manager – College [multiple properties]
January 15, 2024
About Van Wagner
We are a leading full-service sports and entertainment firm. We work with the world’s top professional and college teams, leagues, brands, and properties, providing deep expertise in sales, marketing, content creation, activation, and consulting.
Van Wagner has been connecting brands to sports for over twenty-five years. When we first entered the sports landscape, we used our creativity and expertise to develop unique signage in live sporting events and marketing opportunities for brands to reach sports fans through our Dorna division, including home plate signage in MLB, courtside signage in the NBA and NCAA, and the Allstate college football field goal net program. Our world-class Productions division creates the best in-venue fan experiences for 9 of the world’s top 10 sporting events, including the Super Bowl, Olympic Games, Kentucky Derby, CFP and Final Four among others.
About Van Wagner College
Van Wagner’s College division is the fastest growing company in the industry and now manages the corporate sponsorship and multimedia rights for over 40 NCAA athletic departments and conferences spanning the entire continental United States. We work with our partners to identify and create advertising, marketing, and promotional opportunities for sponsor businesses, across mediums including TV & Radio broadcast, websites, social media, digital and fixed signage, print media, e-newsletters, fan experiences, event activations, and much more.
About the General Manager Role
The General Manager role is a critical part the Van Wagner teams that operate locally in support of a specific collegiate institution or conference partner. We’re looking for entrepreneurial self-starters that are driven, team-oriented, never shy away from a challenge, and have a can-do attitude to join our fast-growing team. This is a great opportunity to grow a career in sports marketing.
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Overall revenue generation and cost containment for the business operation.
- As a representative of the University/Conference, you will build and maintain positive working relationships with local and regional businesses, the campus community, and especially the athletics department (or conference office where applicable)
- Development and implementation of annual business plan that will allow the Partnership to maximize revenue, exposure for the institutional brand, and value to the corporate partners involved with the program
- Management of expenses of the venture according to an agreed-upon annual budget
- Management of the overall sponsorship fulfillment and execution, including direct client services duties for sponsor accounts.
- Serve as primary point of contact for institution’s current sponsors. Work with decision-makers at these companies to extend and increase their commitment to the school.
- Manage the relevant reporting of financial information for sales revenue as well as operations of the program to all pertinent parties.
- Plan and manage internal communications and awareness of corporate and University direction, mission, and goals in the marketplace
- Develop and maintain relationships with top University Administrators
- Work with existing sponsors to grow and extend their partnerships with the school
- Prospecting, scheduling, and conducting initial discovery meetings with new businesses that would benefit from associating with the school or conference
- Prepare and present top-notch PowerPoint proposals to new businesses that thoughtfully story tell what the partnerships can look like
- Negotiate with new businesses to secure new sponsors
- Draft and coordinate agreements, managing all relevant information in our database
- Fulfill the terms of agreements that provide advertising, marketing, and promotional benefits to sponsor businesses. This can include platforms such as TV & Radio broadcasts, websites, social media, digital and fixed signage, print media, e-newsletters, fan experiences, event activations, and much more.
- Collaborate with the Account Executive and other team members on game days for sponsor activations as well as the entertainment of current or prospective sponsors
- Capture proof of performance examples and provide summaries to share with sponsors
- Update new business development activities in the CRM system (currently Salesforce)
What We’re Looking For:
- Ideally, some experience working in marketing, advertising, sales, or events
- Ability to work flexible hours, including some evenings, weekends and, on rare occasions, holidays. (Don’t worry, we make up for it with time off and remote/hybrid scheduling at other times of the year!)
- Great interpersonal communication skills
- A willingness to talk to people you have never met before
- Great listener who can appreciate the needs of different organizations and can suggest relevant ideas for how those organizations can partner
- Demonstrated professionalism
- Energetic and self-motivated attitude
- Competitive response to challenges (A “Bring it on!” attitude)
- Hard work and persistence
- Comfort with being uncomfortable (this is how we grow!)
- Coach-ability
- Strong organizational skills
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
- Proficient with Social Media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok)
- CRM experience (We use Salesforce.com)
- Must be fully COVID-19 vaccinated and have a clean driving record
Why Van Wagner May Be Right For You:
- An unmatched culture within our organization that focuses on building trust with our team members, sponsor businesses, schools, and conferences partners through a people-first approach that delivers business results
- Competitive salary, with bonuses and commissions based on performance (with no cap!)
- Outstanding benefits package (including medical, dental, vision, life insurance)
- 401k
- Opportunity to compete in sales contests with cool prizes (i.e. Trips to Final Four or CFP Championship Game)
- Ongoing professional development training