Director, Licensing & Merchandising - Flag Football

Description

TMRW Sports is building the future of professional sports, and our new professional Flag Football league, Premier Flag, in partnership with the NFL is creating new opportunities to engage fans through innovative products, experiences, and brand collaborations. The Director, Licensing & Merchandising – Flag Football will be responsible for building and leading the league's consumer products business, driving merchandise and licensing strategy across ecommerce, retail, events, and strategic partnerships. Reporting to the Sr. Vice President, Marketing – Flag Football, [LA1] this role will oversee the development of a scalable merchandising and licensing program that strengthens fan engagement, grows brand affinity, and generates meaningful revenue for the league. This person will play an instrumental role in launching and growing one of sports' most exciting new properties, identifying new revenue opportunities, establishing best-in-class processes, and creating a consumer products business built for long-term success.

This individual will lead product strategy, licensing partnerships, ecommerce operations, and business performance while collaborating closely with internal TMRW Sports teams. The ideal candidate combines commercial acumen, product expertise, relationship-building skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset, with a passion for bringing innovative products and fan experiences to market.

 Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute the league's merchandising and licensing strategy across ecommerce, retail, live events, licensing partners, and emerging distribution channels
• Build and manage a comprehensive licensing program, including category planning, partner prospecting, contract negotiations, product approvals, royalty administration, and compliance oversight
• Bring a strong understanding of fashion, lifestyle, and consumer trends to develop merchandise and collaborations that extend the league beyond sport and build cultural relevance with fans
• Lead merchandise planning and product assortment strategies for league launch, tentpole moments, championship merchandise, seasonal collections, athlete products, and limited-edition collaborations
• Own ecommerce operations and merchandising performance, including platform management, inventory forecasting, fulfillment coordination, customer experience, and sales reporting
• Establish and oversee brand and product approval processes to ensure consistency, quality, and brand integrity across all licensed products, merchandise collections, and partner activations
• Partner closely with the central TMRW Sports licensing team to leverage shared vendor relationships, fulfillment infrastructure, analytics capabilities, and operational best practices
• Collaborate across league, team, marketing, partnerships, and events functions to align merchandise launches and licensing initiatives with key campaigns, sponsorship activations, and major league moments
• Own merchandising and licensing business performance, including budgeting, forecasting, revenue, gross margin, sell-through, inventory health, royalties, and overall program profitability
• Identify and pursue new revenue opportunities through retail expansion, strategic collaborations, international distribution, marketplace partnerships, and innovative fan commerce programs

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Merchandising, Sports Management, or a related field
• 7+ years of experience in licensing, merchandising, consumer products, retail, ecommerce, sports, entertainment, or related industries
• Experience developing merchandise strategies across ecommerce, retail, events, and wholesale distribution channels
• Strong understanding of product development, inventory planning, forecasting, and go-to-market execution across multiple sales channels
• Highly analytical with experience leveraging data to inform merchandising and business decisions
• Exceptional relationship-building and cross-functional leadership skills, with experience partnering across marketing, creative, operations, retail, and external vendors/licensees
• Demonstrated ability to negotiate commercial agreements and drive revenue growth

Preferred:

• MBA or advanced degree preferred
• Previous experience building and managing a licensing program, including partner negotiations, product approvals, royalty management, and compliance oversight
• Experience working in a startup, emerging league, or high-growth organization preferred; comfort operating in ambiguity and building new processes, partnerships, and revenue streams from the ground up
• Previous experience building and managing a licensing program, including partner negotiations, product approvals, royalty management, and compliance oversight
• Experience within sports, entertainment, consumer products, apparel, or lifestyle brands
• Proven success launching new products, merchandising programs, or ecommerce initiatives that drive revenue growth

You’ll be successful if:

• Build a scalable licensing and merchandising business that becomes a meaningful revenue driver for the league
• Launch compelling products and collections that deepen fan engagement and brand affinity
• Develop high-impact partnerships that expand distribution and unlock new revenue streams
• Drive measurable growth across ecommerce, retail, and licensed product channels
• Create operational excellence across forecasting, fulfillment, inventory management, and partner execution
• Establish Flag Football as a premier sports merchandising brand from day one

Benefits: 

• Equity ownership opportunities to allow employees to share in the company’s growth
• Unlimited discretionary time off along with 15 paid holidays per year
• Comprehensive health insurance options, including a 100% contribution Employee coverage option
• Additional employee and family insurance coverage options with company contribution, including dental and vision 
• FSA, HSA and DCHSA opportunities including contribution matches
• Retirement options including traditional 401(k) and Roth IRA plans

 *Benefits are subject to change at the company’s discretion.

TMRW Sports is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other factor protected by applicable law. This applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, and training. 

TMRW Sports expressly prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.

No matter what background you bring with you, if you are committed to excellence and good at what you do, we welcome you to apply to join us and encourage you to come as you are.

About TMRW Sports: (pronounced “tomorrow sports”)

TMRW Sports is focused on building modern approaches in sports, media and entertainment. By creating new leagues for a new age, TMRW Sports is forging pathways and experiences for generations of fans in partnership with established leagues like the NFL, PGA Tour and LPGA. The NFL and TMRW Sports are developing Premier Flag, the global professional flag football league for women and men, capping one of the world’s fastest growing sports with an elite, pro tier. TMRW Sports’ first project, TGL presented by SoFi, is a primetime team golf league in partnership with the PGA Tour that reaches 152 countries and territories worldwide and has been described as a “high-energy arena spectacle” by Vanity Fair, “pure entertainment” by GQ and “golf’s boldest new venture” by Fast Company. Launching in November, WTGL will feature teams of the world’s best women golfers in partnership with the LPGA. Founded by Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and sports executive Mike McCarley, TMRW Sports is supported by an influential and diverse investor group of athletes, celebrities and business leaders from the worlds of sports, media, technology and finance. For more, visit TMRWSportsGroup.com.