Hi there,
Applications for Arena's Partnerships Cohort close tomorrow, Friday January 16th at 11:59pm ET.
If you've been quietly following along, this note is for you.
Who’s joining Arena right now
We're bringing together in-house partnerships, BD, sponsorships, and sales leaders across sports, media & entertainment who want more intentional relationships - not more cold outreach, random DMs, or surface-level networking.
Recent members include:
Executive Directors at Disney
Vice Presidents at the Miami Dolphins
C-Suite execs at TikTok
Leaders from Paramount, Google, Sphere, T-Mobile, LA28, NASCAR, and more.
Here's what current members have been saying:
"𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴."
— Nathaniel Hemingway, Director of Strategic Partnerships
"In just a few weeks, Arena exceeded my expectations. It's been thrilling to chat with many other members that had taken a similar career path, and are now working in prestigious executive level roles that I have always strived for.”
— Nicolas Marotta, Head of International Business & Partnerships
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
"𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿?" In-house partnerships, BD, sponsorships, or sales leaders (manager to senior exec) at established brands, leagues, teams, publishers, studios, venues, or streaming platforms in sports, media & entertainment.
"𝗗𝗼 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆?" No. Applying is free and takes ~2 minutes. Community access is available to approved members.
"𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?" You review intros weekly and only meet when there's a mutual match. It's built to fit around your schedule, not add to it.
"𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱?" No. Arena is relationship-first. Members who treat first convos as sales calls don't last long.
"𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘃𝘀. 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿?" Once this cohort closes, it could be months before partnerships leaders are eligible to apply again. Each cohort has different criteria - this is the window for revenue leaders.
"𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗮 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗮 𝗼𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿?" You're already in - no need to apply.
What accepted Partnerships Cohort members get:
✅ Access to Arena at launch (Jan 26)
✅ Curated intros starting Week 1
✅ Placement in the first Partnerships-focused cohort
✅ VIP Partnerships Circle event (first 100 accepted)
✅ Invites to curated Arena community events
If you've been on the fence, this is the moment.
Applications close tomorrow night, and once we shift to the next cohort, the criteria changes.
Not a fit right now? Stay in the loop for future cohorts here.
Best,
Arena Founders | Parul Khosla, Adriene Bueno & Olivia Schwartz
