By 
North American esports organization Misfits Gaming announced it has hired Matt Bailey as the Senior Director of Sponsorship Sales and Services. Bailey is the organization’s first senior commercial team hire in Europe, and will be responsible for leading sponsorship sales and partnership relations. Misfits Gaming enters the upcoming Call of Duty League in 2020 with their Florida franchise slot, which cost $25 million.
Matt Bailey as Senior Director
“Matt comes to us with the perfect combination of passion for esports, international experience, and expertise in cutting-edge digital marketing partnerships for traditional sports,” said Ben Spoont, CEO and co-founder of Misfits Gaming, in a statement. “We’re excited to have our new Senior Director of Sponsorship Sales based in London — as our Berlin office, the Alienware Center, and our LEC team are key parts of Misfits as a whole — and we look forward to further developing our business presence in Europe.”
Prior to joining, Bailey served as a High Yield Bond Analyst at CIBC World Markets and worked in consulting for IMG. While with IMG, he helped with the franchised cricket Indian Premier League, Sochi 2014 Olympic bid, Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, and more.
Bailey’s latest role was with United Kingdom-based fan engagement and sponsorship activation platform InCrowd Sports, as Chief Commercial Officer. While there, he worked with rights holders which consisted of the ICC, Premiership Rugby, and top soccer clubs to create digital products and brand engagement opportunities.
Misfits Gaming Sponsorships
“The opportunity to create brand partnerships for Misfits Gaming that drive our global brand and business is hugely exciting and transferring my experience in working in international sports and entertainment to esports is a professional challenge that I can’t wait to start,” said Matt Bailey, Senior Director of Sponsorship Sales and Services at Misfits Gaming. “I will look to leverage my background in sponsorship consulting to create partnership opportunities and relationships that make investment decisions easy for our current and future partners.”
Bailey is the third executive to be hired in the last few months, shortly after the organization named former FOX Networks Group VP of Global Solutions Lagen Nash as Vice President of Partnerships in early October. With Bailey’s experience in sponsorship sales in traditional sports, it will be interesting to see his implementation with Misfits Gaming. Marketing research firm Global Web Index estimates that the same targeted demographic of ages 18 to 34, accounted for 73% of esports viewership in 2018.
