Sponsorship Before You’re Proven — Making the Pitch Work
With over 25 years in global sports—co‑founding ONE Championship, helping launch The Snow League into China, working on the Commonwealth Games, and now building EPIC—I’ve written these articles to share practical insights for the next generation of sport builders and leaders.
Securing sponsorship before your property is “proven” is one of the hardest parts of sports entrepreneurship — and also one of the most rewarding. From early‑stage combat‑sports projects to launching The Snow League’s debut in China to building EPIC’s global amateur pickleball platform, I’ve often pitched ideas in markets where the property had no history. The key is to shift the conversation from “take a risk on us” to “co‑create a new space in sport with us.”
The first key is to sell the macro, not the micro. Early on, you don’t have years of ratings or attendance data. What you do have is a compelling market thesis. For snow sports in China, it was the country’s strategic push into winter tourism and participation; for pickleball, it’s the fastest‑growing sport in North America with global adoption accelerating. Once partners believe in the macro story, your limited track record becomes less of a weakness and more of a blank canvas.
The second key is over‑investing in credibility. We surrounded our projects with respected advisors, operational experts, and institutional partners—governments, federations, universities, and established brands. My background with ESPN Star Sports, the Commonwealth Games, and community institutions like the Edmonton Elks helped reassure conservative sponsors that we understood how to execute at a professional level. World‑class production, robust safety and governance standards, and transparent reporting are not optional extras; they are what convert curiosity into contracts.
The third key is to design sponsorships as business solutions, not logo wallpaper. For EPIC, for example, we ask potential partners about their growth priorities—new customers, new markets, product testing, or community engagement—and then build rights packages that directly support those goals through content, on‑site activations, digital campaigns, and data. When a sponsor can clearly see how your property moves their KPIs, you stop negotiating over discount rates and start collaborating on long‑term plans.
If you’re unproven, remember: your lack of history is matched by your flexibility. You can offer partners influence, integration, and innovation that mature properties simply can’t. That flexibility—used wisely—is your real unfair advantage in the sponsorship game.