What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director, Market Development for East Coast Events position at PPA Tour?
The Opportunity
Pickleball has 25 million Americans playing the sport — and most of them have never watched a live pro event. That's not a problem. That's the biggest untapped audience in sports marketing right now. As Director, Market Development for our East Coast pod, your primary mission is to turn players into fans — to build the kind of pre-event buzz, local presence, and spectator demand that makes sitting in the stands feel like the obvious next step for anyone who's ever picked up a paddle. You'll own five major events and work alongside the operations team to make sure each tournament feels rooted in its city, not dropped into it.
What You're Driving
- Spectator Tickets & Crowd Building: Convert the millions of recreational players in your markets into ticket buyers. Build campaigns that make the live pro experience feel electric, accessible, and unmissable.
- Build Local Presence: Boots on the ground - building relationships with local news outlets, influencers, pickleball clubs, and community groups so that by the time the tournament arrives, the whole market already knows it's coming.
- Ambassador Program: Connect with clubs and recreational networks to drive tournament entries. A full amateur draw deepens community investment and adds to the atmosphere in the stands.
- Local Event Identity: Work with ops to make each tournament feel like it belongs to its city. A Chicago event should feel nothing like Dallas — local hooks, local media, local energy.
What You'll Own
- Own the full spectator marketing strategy for each event in your region
- Work with your Senior Director to build out campaigns that drive ticket sales, registration and pre event buzz
- Identify and activate market-specific channels — local media, club networks, influencers, community events
- Collaborate with operations to create event experiences that feel uniquely tied to each city's identity and culture
- Drive amateur player registrations through targeted outreach to clubs, facilities, and recreational leagues
- Report on attendance metrics, campaign performance, and registration numbers to the Senior Director
What You Bring
- 4–7 years of marketing experience — sports, live events, or entertainment strongly preferred
- Proven track record of building attendance demand and converting audiences into ticket buyers
- Deep understanding of how to market in local and regional markets
- Creative instincts paired with strategic discipline
- Experience managing at least one direct report
- Strong working knowledge of social media, email, and grassroots community activation
- Comfortable being scrappy — this is creative problem-solving, not big-agency budgets
- Willing to travel to every event and show up personally when it matters most
Why This Role
- The Biggest Untapped Audience in Sports. 25 million players, a fraction of them in seats. The gap between participation and spectatorship is your opportunity.
- Creative Ownership. You're not executing someone else's playbook. Five different cities, five different audiences — you figure out what works and you own the results.
- Get In While It's Still Being Built. Pro pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the country. The people who join now shape what it becomes.