PIVOT

What PIVOT does

PIVOT (legal entity: PIVOT Marketing Agency Inc., dba PIVOT Agency) is a privately held, full-service sports and entertainment marketing, sponsorship, and travel solutions agency founded in 2013 by Ben Shapiro, a former Golden State Warriors executive with 25 years in the sports sponsorship industry. The firm is headquartered in Alamo, California, with remote offices in Boston and Phoenix, and is operated through three core divisions: Brand Consulting (end-to-end sponsorship strategy using the proprietary PIVOT Score analytics tool for impact measurement), Property Consulting (naming rights, commercial partnerships, athlete and influencer representation across sports, entertainment, and public venues), and Travel & Experiences (PIVOT Travel — end-to-end hotel, transportation, 24/7 itinerary, and curated VIP hospitality for professional sports teams, groups, and individuals). A fourth, more recent line, PIVOT Ventures, functions as an incubator originating new sports properties such as Celebrity Pickleball Bash, and the agency separately manages a roster of 14 gaming/digital creators with 12.3M+ cross-platform reach.

PIVOT monetizes entirely through professional-services engagements: sponsorship commissions on naming rights and partnership deals (Property Consulting), retainer and project-based sponsorship strategy and activation (Brand Consulting), per-team / per-event fees for travel management (Travel), and talent representation deals (Influencer). Pricing is custom, quote-based, and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting professional sports teams, leagues, brands, gaming/esports properties, and emerging sports ventures; channels include direct C-suite relationship selling, industry events, and earned media via the agency's newsroom and social channels.

The enterprise client base spans the NBA (Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Houston Astros referenced), the WNBA (10 teams including New York Liberty, Golden State Valkyries, Las Vegas Aces, Seattle Storm), Major League Cricket (San Francisco Unicorns), TGL (Bay Golf Club), Major League Pickleball (Florida Freedom, Miami 305, SoCal Hard Eights), and the global gaming ecosystem (Esports Awards). The company is founder/CEO-controlled with no disclosed external funding, supported by a Board of Investors that includes former Visa CEO Joe Saunders, former PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, NFL Legend Ronnie Lott, and 2x Olympian Bret Hedican.

Name

PIVOT

Legal name

PIVOT Marketing Agency Inc.

Website

https://pivot-agency.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

PIVOT Agency is a privately held, full-service sports and entertainment marketing and travel solutions firm founded in 2013 and led by former Golden State Warriors executive Ben Shapiro. It serves professional sports teams, leagues, brands, and emerging sports properties through three core divisions: Brand Consulting, Property Consulting, and PIVOT Travel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Marketing Services

NAICS

Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113), Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures (7114), Spectator Sports (71121)

SIC

Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Sports Data, Analytics & CRM Services (Fan Data, Insights, Audience Development) (MPAKAKAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Brand & Portfolio Strategy Consulting (MPAAAFAB), Performance & Incentive-Based Endorsements (Bonuses, Royalties, Affiliate/CPA Deals) (MPAKALAI)

Keywords

• Sports marketing agency
• Sponsorship consulting
• Naming rights representation
• Professional team travel
• Esports influencer marketing

Headquarters

HQ city

Walnut Creek

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Property Consulting / Sponsorship Representation: Securing naming rights and commercial partnerships across sports, entertainment, and public venues. Services include naming rights valuation, partnership development, and representation for emerging sports properties.
2. Brand Consulting: End-to-end sponsorship strategy including planning, activation, and measurement through proprietary tools like PIVOT Score and custom digital strategies.
3. Travel & Hospitality: End-to-end travel management for professional sports teams, groups, and individuals including hotel bookings, transportation, 24/7 support, and curated VIP experiences.
4. Influencer & Gaming Marketing: Managing end-to-end influencer campaigns including sourcing, strategy, content development, paid amplification, and performance reporting for gaming and esports audiences.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

PIVOT is a full-service sports and entertainment marketing agency that delivers sponsorship strategy, naming rights and commercial partnership representation, and end-to-end travel management for professional sports teams, leagues, entertainment properties, and consumer brands. The agency operates through three core service lines — Brand Consulting (sponsorship planning, activation, and measurement using the proprietary PIVOT Score), Property Consulting (naming rights sales, commercial partnerships, valuation, and influencer/creator deals across sports, entertainment, and public venues), and Travel & Experiences (sports team travel, group logistics, elite booking, and VIP hospitality) — and additionally manages a roster of gaming influencers and incubates new properties via PIVOT Ventures.

Product overview

PIVOT Agency is a sports marketing, travel, and lifestyle company operating through three core divisions: Brand Consulting, Property Consulting, and Travel & Experiences (PIVOT Travel). Brand Consulting delivers end-to-end sponsorship strategy with proprietary tools like PIVOT Score. Property Consulting specializes in naming rights, commercial partnerships, and valuation strategy across sports, entertainment, and public venues, including sub-services for influencers and pickleball. Travel & Experiences provides end-to-end travel management for teams, groups, and individuals with services spanning sports team travel, group logistics, elite booking, and VIP hospitality. Additionally, PIVOT Ventures incubates new properties, starting with Celebrity Pickleball Bash. The agency also manages an influencer roster of 14 gaming creators with 12.3M combined reach across Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and X.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PIVOT Travel: End-to-end travel management for professional sports teams, groups, and individuals including hotel bookings, transportation, and 24/7 itinerary support
• PIVOT Ventures
• Celebrity Pickleball Bash

Products and services

• Brand Consulting

Quantifiable outcome

• 407M+ campaign impressions delivered for Esports Awards in 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Golden State GroupcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 14 May 2026PIVOT Travel provides end-to-end travel management for Golden State Warriors, Golden State Valkyries, and Santa Cruz Warriors, with representatives providing testimonial video praising the service.
• Temporal TechnologiescoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 15 April 2026PIVOT helped secure partnership between Temporal Technologies and San Francisco Unicorns, naming Temporal as Premium Partner and Official Durable Execution & AI Partner for the 2026 Cognizant Major League Cricket season.
• Esports AwardsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 April 2026PIVOT named Agency of Record for Esports Awards, tasked with leading corporate partnership sales and sponsorship strategy. Supporting integrated commercial opportunities across presenting sponsorships, digital activations, hospitality, and year-round content. Key priority is securing an exclusive Presenting Partner for the 2026 season.
• Sentinels and SandiskminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 March 2026PIVOT brokered strategic marketing collaboration between Sentinels esports organization and Sandisk for brand partnership activation.
• Florida Freedom and Miami 305coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2026PIVOT Agency named Commercial Agency of Record for Florida Freedom and Miami 305, providing partnership development and commercial representation services.
• Bay Golf ClubcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 August 2024PIVOT serves as commercial agency of record for The Bay Golf Club, a founding team of TGL presented by SoFi co-owned by Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson. PIVOT shapes corporate partnership strategy with globally leading brands.
• Detroit PistonscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 26 October 2023Multi-year partnership for hotel and concierge travel services. Detroit Pistons joined Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Tigers, Golden State Warriors, Houston Astros, and other Preferred Pro Sports clients.
• LearfieldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPIVOT partnered with Learfield to expand the partnership portfolio of Cal Athletics, responsible for identifying partners for Presenting Sponsor and club-level entitlements within California Memorial Stadium.
• Agassi Graf HoldingsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPIVOT's Hospitality division executes the Las Vegas Getaway with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf experience, a high-profile fan engagement event featuring tennis legends.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Wasserman: Largest independent sports marketing, sponsorship, and talent management agency, serving leagues, teams, brands, and athletes across all major sports. Closest direct competitor to PIVOT in property consulting and brand sponsorship activation.
• Octagon: Global sports marketing agency (part of IPG) providing sponsorship consulting, athlete management, and experiential marketing for brands and rights holders. Direct competitor across PIVOT's brand consulting and property representation work.
• Excel Sports Management: Sports management and marketing agency representing athletes and providing brand partnership services. Overlaps with PIVOT's sponsorship and commercial representation capabilities, particularly for athlete clients.
• CAA Sports: Sports division of Creative Artists Agency handling athlete representation, property sales, and brand consulting for major leagues and global brands. Competes directly for high-end naming rights and AOR mandates.
• Learfield: Collegiate and professional sports multimedia rights holder and sponsorship agency. PIVOT already partners with Learfield on Cal Athletics, and Learfield is a direct competitor in university and pro sports property representation.
• MKTG: Sports and lifestyle experiential marketing agency (part of Dentsu) providing sponsorship activation and brand consulting. Directly comparable to PIVOT's brand consulting and sponsorship activation work.
• Priority Sports & Entertainment: Sports marketing and athlete representation agency serving pro athletes, teams, and brands. Comparable in scale and service mix to PIVOT, with overlap in commercial representation and sponsorship sales.
• Roc Nation Sports: Sports division of Roc Nation providing athlete representation, sponsorship, and consulting. Competes for high-profile athlete and brand partnerships in a similar category to PIVOT's commercial representation work.

Broad incumbents

• IMG (Endeavor): Global sports and entertainment marketing powerhouse within Endeavor, offering licensing, events, media rights, and athlete management. Operates at materially larger scale than PIVOT across all service lines.

Emerging players

• VaynerSports: Athlete management and sports marketing firm focused on the intersection of sports, media, and digital branding. Comparable to PIVOT's emerging focus on influencer management and brand activation for athletes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pivotagency
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@PIVOTAgency
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pivot-marketing-agency
• Instagraminstagram.com/pivot_agency
• Facebookfacebook.com/PivotAgency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PIVOT