Business Development Manager - Sports Commercial Partnerships

About the role

Rakuten Sports, part of Rakuten Group, is a sports business and marketing agency specialising in commercial partnerships, sports advisory, talent representation and event development. It works with sports rightsholders, athletes and event organisers to create commercial opportunities and connect fans with sports. This Business Development Manager role is based in Singapore and focuses on commercial partnership sales across Asia Pacific (excluding Japan).

Key responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end business development process: originate, develop and close new commercial opportunities in sponsorship, media rights, event hosting and sports business consulting.
• Identify and evaluate new opportunities in the sports and entertainment industry aligned with Rakuten Sports' long-term growth strategy.
• Develop tailored commercial proposals that match client objectives with sports marketing solutions.
• Build and manage a pipeline of prospective partners through networking and consultative sales.
• Collaborate with Rakuten teams in Japan, Taiwan and global markets to unlock cross-border opportunities.
• Maintain accurate sales forecasts, pipeline reporting and CRM updates.
• Monitor industry trends and emerging properties, recommend market expansion, and build relationships with rights holders, event organisers, governing bodies and media partners.
• Support contract negotiations, commercial documentation, forecasting and account administration.

Required profile

• 6-8 years of experience in sports sponsorship, media rights, sports marketing or commercial partnership sales, with a proven track record of achieving revenue targets.
• Deep understanding of the sports business ecosystem (rights holders, federations, sponsors, agencies, broadcasters, media platforms).
• Ability to understand client objectives and turn them into commercial solutions, with an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Demonstrated ability to engage and influence senior decision-makers and C-suite executives.
• Self-motivated, resilient and able to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced international environment.
• Strong planning, organisational and project management skills, and excellent presentation, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English; Japanese is an advantage.