Manager, Sports Experiences

Who We Are:

On Location is a global leader in premium experiential hospitality, offering ticketing, curated guest experiences, live event production and travel management across sports, entertainment, fashion and culture. On Location provides unrivaled access for corporate clients and fans looking for official, immersive experiences at marquee events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games, FIFA World Cup 2026, Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, and more. An official partner and/or service provider to over 150 iconic rights holders, such as the IOC (the Milano Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games), FIFA, NFL, NCAA, UFC, WWE, and PGA of America, the company also owns and operates a number of its own unique experiences. On Location is a subsidiary of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO), a premium sports and entertainment company.

TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TKO) is a premium sports and entertainment company. TKO owns iconic properties including UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization; WWE, the global leader in sports entertainment; and PBR, the world’s premier bull riding organization. Together, these properties reach 1 billion households across 210 countries and territories and organize more than 500 live events year-round, attracting more than three million fans. TKO also services and partners with major sports rights holders through IMG, an industry-leading global sports marketing agency; and On Location, a global leader in premium experiential hospitality.

Overall Scope of Role

The Manager, Sports Experiences, is a key leadership role with primary responsibility for developing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with clients, hotels, hotel brands, the Housing team, and other internal and external clients as applies.  This leader will work with executives and leadership within On Location on client related matters and liaise between the client and OLE to help reinforce efficient operations and alignment, as needed. The role successfully manages large-volume hotel reservation management, hotel selection, negotiations, contracting, cash flow, inventory management, and reporting for the Housing team.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities

• Identify lodging needs for all client events including hotel evaluation, selection, contracting, and ongoing relationship management
• Negotiate hotel contracts based on specific needs (including attrition, food and beverage minimums, amenities, etc.)
• Monitor and manage hotel/lodging contracts to ensure that events receive services as negotiated and terms are appropriately managed (e.g., attrition, rooming list deadlines, special requests, room blocks, etc.)
• Review requests for lodging needs or issue resolution. Gather and relay information between the client, partners, and other departments. Ensure quick turnaround of recommendations or resolutions.
• Ongoing client management with both internal and external clients
• Develop an operational plan to efficiently manage hotel inventory across all events
• Create event and hotel-builds in proprietary reservation system
• Provide leadership and direction while working with leaders of other event teams to develop standardized and documented processes across our team and offices
• Develop a collaborative environment effective at reviewing the efficiency and accuracy of our processes and identify and implement improvements in a timely fashion
• Expand our ability to identify and track opportunities to improve quality
• Establish operational accountability (checklists, quality assurance tests, etc.) and share best practices across housing teams

• Identify improvement opportunities and develop effective training materials to impact results
• Develop, track and improve year-to-year reporting to identify patterns
• Optimize sales and maintain strong hotel relationships in markets
• Situation analysis and decision making
• Takes initiative to identify solutions to solve processes or business problems
• Site inspections of procured hotels and future potential hotels in market as needed

• Provide exceptional customer service
• Work with marketing department to create and distribute consistent event-related communications
• Support accounting with reconciliation and collection process

Administrative & Other Responsibilities

• Conduct event related training to Housing team, as needed
• Provide leadership/feedback on process development/improvement during meetings
• Participate in post-event review meetings
• Conduct process review/improvement meetings
• Provide input on performance reviews, bonuses, and merit increases, as needed

Travel

Must be adaptable with work and travel schedule, and be available to travel for work, which may include extended work hours during nights, weekends, and holidays.  This position will require less than 10% travel.

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of the employee's activities, duties, or responsibilities for this job.  Duties, obligations, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, the candidate must be able to perform each essential duty above at the highest levels. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Required Education and/or Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality, Sports Management, Marketing, Business or a related field, or equivalent experience preferred
• Experience in a management position (minimum of 3-5 years) preferably in the sports and/or travel and hospitality industry. Experience in handling day-to-day team management activities and issues that may arise.
• The ability to enter negotiations understanding both parties needs and wants and ultimately partnering to obtain win/win results for On Location, vendor, and client
• Demonstrates appropriate level of technical expertise necessary to work with event bid documents, hotel RFPs and hotel contracts
• Exceptional interpersonal skills – a collaborative style and ability to communicate effectively at all levels with strong oral, written, and presentation skills
• The ability to communicate information and ideas to other people verbally in an understandable manner. This competency includes effectively speaking to groups and individuals, making formal presentations, and listening to others.
• Expresses a concern for client satisfaction and focuses the attention of others on the importance of client satisfaction. Initiate actions, steps, plans, systems, processes or programs that seek to maintain high levels or enhance client satisfaction.
• Having and demonstrating the skill to effectively address and resolve problems as part of a team. Solicit input form team members in a group setting. Put team's success ahead of own and share credit for team accomplishments.
• The ability to communicate information and ideas to others in written form, in an understandable manner. The ability to understand and comprehend information and ideas in written form. This competency includes effective writing and reading.
• A proven record of accomplishment of strong personal effectiveness in which imaginative and distinctive leadership have been demonstrated
• Continually strive for self-development and discovering better means of accomplishing both personal and professional goals
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications; in particular Excel and Outlook

Preferred Education and/or Experience

• Professional Sports and Events Operations
• Travel & Hospitality

Our Core Vales

As the leading experiences company in the world, we strive to be the most innovative and passionate — the best of the best.

We uphold these values in our quest for excellence:

• out ahead: We move with boldness and urgency, taking smart, calculated risks to push boundaries and lead the future of sports and entertainment. We play to win, driven by the relentless spirit of a challenger and the discipline of a champion.  

• oh sh*t! content and experiences: Excellence is our baseline. Whether we’re creating content, delivering unforgettable moments, or enabling them from behind the scenes, we bring passion, energy, and precision to everything we do. Everyone contributes to the impact—on our fans, our businesses, and each other.  

• one unstoppable team: We’re one team—driven by purpose, not divided by silos or egos. Collaboration is our competitive edge: we share openly, support consistently, and win and lose together to amplify our impact and strengthen our culture.  

• open minded: We lead with curiosity—always open to learning from one another and valuing different voices and ideas. Embracing a range of experiences and perspectives allows bold ideas to flow more freely, and that’s when great work happens.  

• own the outcome: We own our actions and outcomes—following through, holding ourselves to a high standard, and earning trust through consistency and delivery. We play it straight—we do what’s right, even when no one’s watching, because integrity wins every time 

COMPENSATION 

Competitive salary, commensurate with experience, and a generous benefits package that includes: medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, paid time off, and 401k plan.  

On Location is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, or genetic information.

TKO EEO Statement:

TKO is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding non-discrimination in employment. TKO makes employment decisions based on merit and qualifications, without considering an employee’s or applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other basis prohibited under federal, state or local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the Company has facilities. TKO also provides reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and applicable state or local laws. For information about Privacy and Information Security for TKO employment candidates, please review our . For information regarding Terms of Use for this and other TKO websites, please review our Terms of Use.