For leaders who take time to learn before they invest.
A focused forum on sponsorship, partnership, and ROI.
Most conferences optimize for more content.
This one is built for better decisions.
SponsorshipX brings together leaders who slow down, learn the landscape, and invest with intention — not pressure.
No trade show floor.
No sales pitches.
Just learning that leads to smarter partnerships.
You’ll join CMOs, partnership leads, and innovation teams from global brands, agencies, emerging platforms, and rights holders — all focused on turning sponsorship into measurable impact.
PARTNERS
Position your brand as a thought leader in sponsorship valuation, connect with high-value clients, and drive results.
DELEGATES
If you’re responsible for justifying sponsorship spend, elevating your brand’s impact, or advancing your knowledge, you must be here.
SPEAKERS
Join the industry’s top minds to discuss best practices, cutting-edge research, and inspiring stories that will shape the future of sponsorship metrics.
Learning that outlasts the event.
clear frameworks for evaluating sponsorship opportunities
real world examples
of partnerships that delivered ROI
better questions
to ask before
committing budget
peer insight you won’t get from decks or large conference rooms
Registration Open
Start your day at Registration—your first stop to collect materials, get oriented, and prepare for what’s ahead.
Pre-Event Huddle
Jumpstart your networking, master the conference app, connect with fellow delegates, and unlock every opportunity to maximize your ROI Forum experience.
Welcome Lunch
Start the conference together at the Welcome Lunch, where great food meets great conversation. Use this time to meet new faces and catch up with familiar ones.
The New ROI Pressure Cooker
Sponsorship ROI has never been under more scrutiny. With AI changing measurement expectations, CFOs demanding tighter justification, and global event saturation raising the bar, this session explores how sponsorship professionals can adapt, optimize, and prove value in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Engineering Sponsorship ROI BEFORE the Deal Is Signed
Most sponsorship conversations focus on ROI after a deal is signed. This session challenges that mindset and argues that ROI is largely determined much earlier, at the moment the sponsorship decision is made. Using a contemporary brand scenario, this presentation will explore how a CMO might evaluate sport as a growth lever, examining how audience intelligence informs smarter partnership selection, how activation strategy should align with clear perception goals, and how the right KPIs can be identified before a dollar is even spent.
From there, the focus shifts to validation with a practical measurement framework that integrates ongoing brand tracking, custom research, and media exposure analysis to move beyond surface-level reporting and toward more confident, informed decision-making. Attendees will leave with a clear system for engineering sponsorship ROI from the beginning and proving it at the end.
Experiential Strategy That Delivers: From Concept to Measurable Impact
Experiential marketing is more than flashy activations, it’s strategic design that drives real business results. This panel brings together event and brand leaders to share how they plan, execute, and scale experiences that deliver measurable ROI. Discover how top teams align experiential initiatives with brand goals and sponsorship objectives, ensuring every activation is purposeful and impactful. From ideation to execution, this discussion will show how experiences can translate into conversions, social amplification, and long-term growth, giving brands a blueprint for measurable success.
Conversations in Measurement
Take a seat at subject-focused tables, where industry practitioners share proven approaches and facilitate discussion. Exchange ideas and learn from those turning strategies into measurable results. Apply your perspective, tackle real challenges, and walk away with actionable insights you can put into practice.
Meet the ROI Roundtable speakers who will drive the conversation forward:
Norm O’Reilly – Measuring Brand ROI: Moving Beyond Impressions with Meaningful Metrics
Jade Descheneaux – The Fan-Made ROI: Measuring and Turning Unauthorized Uses Into Dollars
Andrew Lafiosca – Building Your Measurement Strategy and Why It Matters
Gina Scott – The Player Economy: How NIL is Reshaping Value Creation in Professional Sport
Tracking & Maximizing the ROI of Earned Media
Earned media can’t be controlled, but that doesn’t mean it’s accidental. This session breaks down how leading teams strategically position themselves to capture and amplify impactful moments across broadcast and social. From tracking and valuation to partner-driven amplification, you’ll learn how to turn your organization’s most notable exposures into measurable impact and integrate earned media into a smarter, more complete marketing strategy.
Built Together: How Brands and Properties Grow Side by Side
When a brand partners with an emerging property, there is no legacy playbook—there is only possibility. This session explores what it really takes to build something together from an early stage, where strategy, trust, creativity, and measurement must evolve in real time. Through the perspectives of both brand and agency-side commercial representation, this conversation will unpack how alignment is built before scale, how ideas are shaped collaboratively, and how to define success when the blueprint is still being written. Attendees will explore how early-stage partnerships create impact when brands and emerging properties grow side by side.
Steel City Kickoff Happy Hour
Join us for the Steel City Kickoff Happy Hour! Sip on refreshing cocktails and savor delicious appetizers as you connect with fellow attendees. Build new relationships, exchange insights, and channel your inner GM with draft-inspired activities in a fun, engaging atmosphere.
Cocktails in the Steel City
Unwind and connect at a pre-arranged bar in Pittsburgh. Enjoy drinks and conversation in a casual setting, perfect for meeting fellow delegates and making new connections.
Registration
Start your day at Registration—your first stop to collect materials, get oriented, and prepare for what’s ahead.
Breakfast
Grab a bite, sip your coffee, and start the day connecting with fellow attendees.
Small Group ROI Chats
Start off Day 2 by taking part in optional one-on-one or small-group ROI discussions, designed to provide guidance and insight on measurement, valuation, and more. Come ready with your questions (sign up via the app, limited to 15 participants).
Inside the NFL Sponsorship Portfolio: Maximizing ROI
Get a behind-the-scenes look at how leading brands strategically build and manage their NFL sponsorship portfolios to drive results. This session highlights proven approaches for leveraging marquee events, amplifying community programs, and integrating data-driven digital touchpoints to boost fan engagement, maximize sponsorship value, and craft a cohesive, results-driven portfolio strategy.
1:1 Playbook
Strategy meets insight in these one-on-one conversations. Leaders break down the plays behind their success, sharing real-world examples, key decisions, and actionable takeaways. 1:1 Playbook Sessions provide the inside view on what drives results so you can apply the winning plays to your own strategies.
Know Your Audience, Know Your ROI
In a landscape where fans engage across broadcast, digital platforms, live experiences, and evolving fandom ecosystems, knowing exactly who you are reaching is essential to building partnerships that last. This session explores how a deep, data-informed understanding of audiences is the first step in driving sponsorship ROI. While short-term ROI can sometimes be achieved without precise audience alignment, long-term “sticky” ROI depends on it—fueling relevance, repeat investment, and sustained partner value. Join us to explore why audience clarity must come before activation design, measurement frameworks, and partnership negotiation, and how leading organizations are prioritizing audience insight as the first and most important step in building successful sponsorship programs.
Three Deals That Changed the Game: Measuring Player Value
What does true player value look like today? This session spotlights three transformative partnerships that set new benchmarks for performance and impact. Through real-world examples, we’ll examine the strategy, execution, and metrics that mattered most—uncovering how brands evaluate success and why players are increasingly viewed as strategic growth drivers within the sports ecosystem.
Networking Lunch Reception & Flag Football Draft
Grab a tasty lunch and recharge before the live SponsorshipX Flag Football Draft, where teams and matchups are revealed and the excitement builds toward the first snap of friendly competition.
Flag Football Tournament brought to you by T1
Hit the field for friendly competition and team-building at the Flag Football Tournament! Join your drafted team, show off your skills, strategize with teammates, and enjoy a fun, active way to connect with fellow delegates. Whether you’re playing to win or just there to cheer on your team, it’s a great way to celebrate teamwork and camaraderie.
Flag Football Happy Hour
Shake off the sweat with refreshing drinks and food field side after playing a few games of flag football.
Cocktails in the Steel City
Unwind and connect at a pre-arranged bar in Pittsburgh. Enjoy drinks and conversation in a casual setting, perfect for meeting fellow delegates and making new connections.
Registration
Start your day at Registration—your first stop to collect materials, get oriented, and prepare for what’s ahead.
Breakfast
Grab a bite, sip your coffee, and start the day connecting with fellow attendees.
Small Group ROI Chats
Start off Day 3 by taking part in optional one-on-one or small-group ROI discussions, designed to provide guidance and insight on measurement, valuation, and more. Come ready with your questions (sign up via the app, limited to 15 participants).
Behind the NFL Draft: Strategy, Sponsorship & ROI
Go inside one of the NFL’s most powerful tentpole events to understand how the Draft is built, scaled, and optimized for maximum impact. This session explores the strategic thinking behind the NFL Draft and how decisions are made to drive fan engagement while unlocking commercial value. Attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at the Draft and how sponsorship is integrated into the Draft experience, from early-stage planning through execution across broadcast, digital, and live platforms. Explore how the NFL measures success and delivers clear ROI for both the league and its partners, and why the Draft continues to stand as one of sport’s most influential and forward-thinking properties.
The Renewal Equation: Using Data to Predict Sponsorship ROI
Dive into the data behind sponsorship renewal and see how renewal rates serve as a proxy for positive ROI. Using a statistical model focused on the probability of renewal, this session analyzes how factors such as brand strength, industry trends, economic conditions, and geographic considerations influence decision-making.
Through live discussion and expert insights, attendees will uncover which factors increase the likelihood of long-term engagement, how positive ROI drives higher renewal rates, and which partnership characteristics signal sustainable success. Participants will leave with actionable insights for structuring and optimizing sponsorships to maximize ROI, create lasting impact, and achieve long-term value.
Break
Refuel with coffee and mingle with fellow attendees. Swap ideas, make new connections, and snag a moment with speakers to tackle the burning questions you’ve been waiting to ask!
Conversations in Measurement
Take a seat at subject-focused tables, where industry practitioners share proven approaches and facilitate discussion. Exchange ideas and learn from those turning strategies into measurable results. Apply your perspective, tackle real challenges, and walk away with actionable insights you can put into practice.
Meet the ROI Roundtable speakers who will drive the conversation forward:
Norm O’Reilly – Measuring Brand ROI: Moving Beyond Impressions with Meaningful Metrics
Jade Descheneaux – The Fan-Made ROI: Measuring and Turning Unauthorized Uses Into Dollars
Jacie deHoop & Jamie McCormick – Driving Growth: Monetizing the ROI of Female Fandom
Andrew Lafiosca – Building Your Measurement Strategy and Why It Matters
Jonathan Jensen – Effects of Brand Rivalries: Competition for Exclusive Sponsorships
Lisa Young – The Trust Economy: How Authenticity, Consent, and Alignment Drive Long-Term Brand ROI
Beyond the Scoreboard: Measuring Fan Engagement and Return on Objectives
Explore how the NFL and its sponsors go beyond traditional exposure metrics to measure the real ROI of their partnerships. This session dives into strategies for tracking fan engagement, social sentiment, and brand affinity, while connecting sponsorship activations to long-term business outcomes. Speakers will share innovative approaches to proving value, optimizing campaigns, and demonstrating measurable impact to key stakeholders.
Networking Lunch Reception
Refuel with a delicious lunch. Take a break, enjoy great food, and get energized for an afternoon packed with learning, networking, and exciting football experiences.
NFL Draft Experience Activation Tour
Explore the NFL Draft’s top brand activations, seeing firsthand how leading brands engage fans during this high-profile event. Observe each activation up close and take away key lessons on what makes these sponsorships successful, drawn from insights shared throughout the Forum.
NFL Draft Celebration
Join us together at our Draft watch party where delegates come together to watch the action live on the big screen. Watch, react, and discuss in real time, creating the shared excitement and connection that only a group viewing can deliver.
Farewell Cocktails in the Steel City
Wrap up the ROI Forum with farewell cocktails in the Steel City where you can share stories, enjoy laughs, and a final toast with fellow delegates while celebrating the memories of the past few days.