The Future of Sponsorship for Brands and Athletes | Ishveen Jolly from Open Sponsorship

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Ishveen from Open Sponsorship, founder and CEO. How are you doing today, Ishveen?

Ishveen Jolly: I am good, Ernesto. Thanks for having me.

Ernesto: It’s great to have you on. I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, wondering what Open Sponsorship is all about, so let’s kick it off with that. Ishveen, in your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?

Ishveen: Yeah, absolutely. As you mentioned, CEO and founder. I started the company about eight years ago. I used to be a sports agent and loved sponsorship and deal-making but thought the process of putting two sides together was very arduous. I naively thought, “Let’s do the Airbnb or LinkedIn of sponsorship,” targeting a $60 billion industry. Fast forward to today, we are the largest marketplace globally, connecting brands—mostly CPG brands but also B2B and fintech—to athletes to fulfill brand ambassador and influencer marketing roles. We’ve built an amazing tech platform and services to put the two sides together.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear. With your background, it sounds like you’ve stayed in your zone of genius. That’s amazing. For our listeners to get a better understanding, what are some of the key problems that Open Sponsorship solves for your clients?

Ishveen: One of the biggest problems we solve is how sports and entertainment can be a great channel to market through. It’s excellent for validation, influence, and storytelling. That’s why Super Bowl ads are some of the most expensive marketing inventory. However, working with talent—especially athletes—can be difficult. Negotiations, figuring out the right price, defining deliverables, and tracking ROI are all challenging. Platforms like Facebook or Google Ads have solved these for digital marketing, but it hasn’t been solved for athletes. That’s where we come in. With our platform, marketers can search by price, demographics, and even engagement metrics. We’re helping data-driven marketers make informed decisions in the sports and entertainment world.

Ernesto: Absolutely. Wow, that’s amazing. Would it be fair to say your ideal ICP is someone who’s just starting out or more established? What’s the sweet spot?

Ishveen: Great question. We’ve worked with everyone, from Walmart to smaller companies. Our perfect ICP is mid-sized companies with marketing teams of 1–5 people. They have healthy influencer marketing budgets, often in health, wellness, fitness, and fashion. These companies lean on us to handle time-consuming tasks like finding the right talent and negotiating deliverables. Unlike typical influencers, athletes aren’t natural content creators, so we bring in the management expertise they need.

Ernesto: Awesome to hear. So how do brands and athletes typically find out about Open Sponsorship? What’s your top client acquisition channel?

Ishveen: For athletes, it’s easier because signing up is free. We work with major agencies like CAA, Wasserman, and Rock Nation, as well as smaller agents and independent athletes. On the brand side, we experiment a lot. Email outbound is big for us, but we also invest in Facebook ads, Google Ads, SEO, and agencies. It’s a mix of trial and error to find what works best.

Ernesto: That’s great. And for our listeners, you can check them out at opensponsorship.com. What role does the website play in client acquisition for both brands and athletes?

Ishveen: The website is crucial, especially for inbound. On the brand side, we drive traffic there but often push for sales calls instead of converting them directly online. For athletes, the platform is everything—it’s where they sign up, apply to campaigns, and get matched with brands. It’s a very scalable process for the athlete side.

Ernesto: Would there be any tips or methods for lead generation for brands and athletes?

Ishveen: Messaging is critical. For athletes, the process has to be seamless. For brands, we insert more breaks to push them toward scheduling calls. Different conversion strategies work better for each audience.

Ernesto: Great insights! Let’s switch gears and talk about you as a leader. What are some key tasks you focus on daily as CEO?

Ishveen: It varies depending on the needs of the business. At the end of a quarter, I might focus on sales. If churn numbers are high, I’ll look into account management. I try to complement my team’s strengths with my own, especially with data analysis. No two days are the same, which keeps it exciting.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear! Let’s jump into our rapid-fire questions. Are you ready?

Ishveen: Absolutely.

Ernesto: First up, what’s the last book you read?

Ishveen: I just finished a book about the weekly meetings between Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Thatcher. It’s fascinating and a break from business books, which I used to read exclusively.

Ernesto: Great read! What’s one single thing your company is focused on the most right now?

Ishveen: Narrowing down our ideal customer profile and ensuring we target and convert them effectively.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what’s one thing you’d want to fix as a marketer?

Ishveen: Matching. I’d love for brands to find their perfect athlete with two clicks, complete with cost and ROI projections.

Ernesto: What’s one repetitive task you’d automate?

Ishveen: Email responses. Automating follow-ups and replies would save so much time.

Ernesto: Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were starting your career again?

Ishveen: Focus on defining clear goals and metrics, whether in marketing or life, and stick to achieving them.

Ernesto: Great advice! Thanks so much for sharing. Before we wrap up, if someone forgets everything about today’s interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about Open Sponsorship?

Ishveen: Athletes are incredible influencers and brand ambassadors, and we make it easy and ROI-effective to work with them. Check us out!

Ernesto: You heard it here! Check them out at opensponsorship.com to power your next sports and entertainment marketing campaign. Thank you, Ishveen, for joining us, and thank you to our listeners for tuning in. See you next time on Pathmonk Presents.

Ishveen: Thanks, Ernesto!