General Manager - Valparaiso University Athletic Sponsorships

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.

Van Wagner’s College division is the fastest growing company in the industry and now manages the corporate sponsorship and multimedia rights for over 50 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 broadcasts, websites, social media, digital and fixed signage, print media, e-newsletters, fan experiences, event activations, and much more.

As a representative of Valparaiso University, you will build and maintain positive working relationships with local and regional businesses, the campus community, and especially the athletics department. You will work with existing sponsor businesses to grow and extend their partnerships with the school as well as prospecting, scheduling, and conducting initial discovery meetings with new businesses that would benefit from associating with the school.

The General Manager will prepare and present top‑note 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, and manage all relevant information in our division‑wide database. The General Manager and their team will also 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.

• 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
• Development and implementation of an 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 a primary point of contact for the 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‑note PowerPoint proposals to new…