Happy New Year! 🥳 As 2026 kicks off, a lot of professionals across sports, media & entertainment are taking a step back and thinking about what they want more of this year (and what they want less of).
For many, that’s fewer surface-level connections and more intentional relationships that actually support their work and long-term career goals.
That’s the lens we’re using as Arena evolves in 2026 to curate relevant 1:1 introductions that lead to new opportunities for industry leaders.
Instead of offering one broad, generic experience, we’re rolling out focused cohorts by role, so the people you meet and opportunities that surface are relevant to what you actually do.
The first cohort we’re opening is Partnerships with other cohorts in marketing, content, and beyond coming very soon.
Now open: Arena’s Partnerships Cohort
This cohort is designed for in-house partnerships leaders at established brands, leagues, teams, platforms, publishers, studios, and venues in sports, media & entertainment who want to start 2026 with more relationships with relevant decision-makers (without cold outreach, random DMs, or mass networking).
If that sounds aligned with your goals for the year ahead, you can learn more and apply here:
Applications close Jan 16.
If you already applied, you will hear back from us on your application status soon. If yo'u’ve already been approved, no further action needed.
What’s cohorts are coming next
Partnerships is just the starting point. We’ll be opening additional role-specific cohorts throughout the year - including groups focused on marketing, content, and other functions, level, and company types - each with their own criteria and focus.
If this isn’t the right cohort for you right now, you can let us know what is and we’ll only reach out when it’s relevant:
More soon,
Arena Founders | Parul Khosla, Adriene Bueno & Olivia Schwartz
