Wisdom

Creating a $1M+ Sponsorship Funnel at the Mall of America

ROLE:

Director of Digital Strategy

IMPACT:

1B+ annual pageviews
$3–5M recurring ad revenue
212% YoY organic growth

EXPERIENTIAL GTM

ESPORTS & GAMING

CONTEXT & PROBLEM

Wisdom Gaming operates at the intersection of esports, live events, and brand partnerships. When I stepped into the role, large-scale esports activations were often treated as one-off productions: high effort, high visibility, but inconsistent revenue leverage and limited long-term value for sponsors.

The core challenge was turning early wins into a repeatable and profitable system for growth.

WHAT I BUILT

I designed the experiential monetization framework that repositioned events as scalable revenue assets, not standalone moments:

EVENT-AS-PLATFORM STRATEGY

Reframed live esports tournaments as repeatable IP with clear sponsorship tiers, media value, and expansion potential.

INTEGRATED LIVE + DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

Combined in-venue experiences with Twitch and YouTube amplification to extend reach beyond physical attendance.

SPONSOR VALUE MODELING

Defined success metrics across attendance, livestream viewership, engagement, and earned media to quantify ROI for partners.

SALES & PITCH ENABLEMENT

Partnered with business development to scope, price, and sell high-value sponsorship packages grounded in performance data.

NARRATIVE & BRAND TRANSLATION

Built sponsor-ready narratives that translated gaming culture into credible business outcomes for endemic and non-endemic brands.

HOW IT SHOWED UP IN MARKET

These systems powered:

  • Flagship esports tournaments at the Mall of America

  • Brand-sponsored launches for titles like Wild Rift and Street Fighter 6

  • Charity-driven events that built goodwill while delivering sponsor value

Wisdom Gaming’s activations shifted from “events” to revenue-generating GTM platforms.

RESULTS & IMPACT

Outcomes

  • $800K+ in direct campaign revenue

  • $1M+ in total activation value

  • $250K–$300K generated from a single flagship activation

  • Increased sponsor confidence and repeatability of engagements