FRACTIONAL CMO
FOR SPORTS & EVENTS BRANDS
Marketing leadership for ambitious sports properties. From launch strategy to commercial partnerships, we embed with your team to turn marketing into measurable revenue.
Why Sports Brands Struggle with Marketing Leadership
You have built an incredible property, but the marketing is not delivering commercial results. This is a common challenge.
Traditional agencies often fail to grasp the unique commercial models that drive the sports industry, from ticketing dynamics to sponsorship activation.
The cost of a full time Chief Marketing Officer, with salaries exceeding £140,000 plus benefits, is prohibitive for most emerging properties and even established ones look for more flexibility.
Many sports brands find themselves with a marketing function that executes tasks without a clear strategic direction tying it all together.
This leads to wasted effort and missed opportunities. With aggressive launch timelines and tight budgets, there is no room for error.
Generic marketing consultants lack the specific industry credibility needed to open doors and make an immediate impact.
Your brand needs specialist leadership that understands the game.
Embedded Marketing Leadership for Sports Properties
Porter Wills provides expert fractional CMO services created specifically for the sports, events and entertainment sectors. We solve the leadership gap by embedding a senior marketing leader inside your organisation.
We do not advise from the outside, we become part of your team, accountable for performance and driving your objectives forward. With 15 years of experience building and scaling global sports championships, we bring a level of expertise that is difficult to find.
We understand the specific challenges of participation sports, event technology platforms and touring properties because we have been there.
Our sports marketing fractional CMO engagements are flexible to suit your needs, offering day rates, intensive week sprints for urgent projects or ongoing retainer partnerships. We are relentlessly focused on turning marketing activity into measurable commercial outcomes like ticket sales, sponsorship revenue and fan growth. We have built the properties you admire. Now we help yours scale.
How We Work with Sports Brands
Our fractional CMO sports industry services are designed for flexibility and impact. We offer three core engagement models to provide the right level of marketing leadership for your brand.
Fractional CMO
Ongoing strategic marketing leadership to guide your team and drive performance. We embed with your organisation for one to two days per week, providing clear direction, team leadership and full accountability for marketing results.
£3,500/month (1 day/week, 3 month minimum)
Best for: Brands with marketing teams needing strategic direction
Week Sprints
Rapid diagnostic and prioritised action plan delivered in five days. Our week long sprints are designed for urgent new launches, rebrands or market entry campaigns where speed and precision are essential to success.
£4,500 per week (5-day intensive)
Best for: New property launches, rebrands and market entry
Project Engagements
Focused project work for specific outcomes over four to eight weeks. We develop launch strategies, repositioning plans or marketing transformation programmes that deliver measurable commercial impact for your brand.
£12,000 - £18,000 (4-8 weeks)
Best for: Property launches, brand repositions and marketing transformation
What Sports Marketing Leadership Delivers
We provide the fractional CMO sports brands need to achieve ambitious commercial goals.
While respecting client confidentiality, the results below demonstrate the impact of our embedded marketing leadership across global properties.
These are real outcomes from our 15 years in the sports industry.
Why Sports Brands Choose Fractional CMO Leadership
Choosing the right marketing leadership structure is critical. A fractional CMO offers the perfect balance of expertise, cost efficiency and flexibility for growth stage sports brands.
It provides access to top tier talent without the long term financial commitment of a permanent hire.
The message is clear. Get CMO level sports expertise at a fraction of the cost, without the commitment of a permanent hire.
Our fractional CMO services are built for the pace and demands of the sports industry.
How We Start Working Together
Our onboarding process is designed for speed and clarity. We move from initial conversation to impactful execution within three weeks, providing the immediate momentum your sports brand needs.
Week 1: Discovery
It starts with a free 30 minute strategy call to understand your challenge, commercial goals and timeline. We use this session to determine the best engagement model for your specific situation.
Week 2: Diagnostic
We conduct a thorough review of your current marketing activity, team structure and commercial performance. We identify what is working, what is broken and where the biggest opportunities lie to build an actionable roadmap.
Week 3: Execution
We embed with your team. As your fractional CMO, we begin leading strategy, guiding execution and driving immediate progress against the agreed roadmap. We focus on building momentum from day one.
Built for the Sports Industry
Effective sports marketing requires more than just marketing skills. It demands a deep understanding of the unique commercial ecosystem that powers the industry. A generic fractional CMO cannot deliver the same value as a dedicated sports specialist. Our 15 years of experience is focused entirely on this world. Unlike generic fractional CMOs serving D2C ecommerce or B2B SaaS, our entire career has been building sports properties. This specialisation means we understand your challenges instinctively and can deliver impact from day one.
We bring specialist knowledge of:
Sports commercial models including sponsorship, ticketing and media rights
Athlete partnerships and talent management strategy
The economics of participation sports and mass engagement
Event technology platform positioning and growth
Fan engagement strategies and community building
Sponsorship activation and partnership development
Launch strategy for highly competitive sports markets
Scaling global properties across continents
Our experience helps you navigate the and build a competitive advantage.
FAQs
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Sports has unique commercial models, shorter sales cycles around events, passionate fan communities and complex stakeholder ecosystems including athletes, sponsors, venues and governing bodies. A specialist approach is essential.
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Yes. We have launched properties from concept including team championships and touring series. If you have product market fit and need marketing leadership to scale, we can help build your foundation for growth.
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Absolutely. Commercial partnerships are core to sports economics. We strengthen sponsorship proposals, identify ideal sponsor targets and build activation strategies that deliver clear value for partners and grow your revenue.
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Extensive. We understand the economics of mass participation events, from optimising registration conversion rates to fostering repeat participation and building a community that drives long term growth and loyalty.
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We work globally. Based in London, we have deep experience across UK, European, Middle Eastern and North American markets. We have scaled properties and events across multiple continents.
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We can typically embed with your team within one to two weeks from our initial conversation. We offer fast start options for projects with urgent launches or competitive deadlines.
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Perfect. We do not replace your team, we lead them. Most sports brands have good people who simply need clear strategic direction, accountability and senior leadership to unlock their full potential.
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This depends on your specific challenge. However, typical outcomes in the first 90 days include clearer market positioning, a stronger commercial narrative, improved team performance and measurable progress on key metrics like ticket sales or sponsorship pipeline growth. See our for examples.
Ready to Scale Your Sports Property?
Whether you are launching a new championship series, repositioning an established event or need urgent marketing leadership for a critical growth phase, we embed with your team to deliver results under pressure.
With 15 years building global sports properties, Porter Wills provides the fractional CMO leadership ambitious sports and entertainment brands need to win. Let us turn your marketing into your most powerful commercial asset.
Pricing Reminder: Week sprints £4,500 (5-day intensive) | Monthly retainers from £3,500 (1 day/week)
15 years building global sports events and entertainment properties.