Media Rights Director

Kings League; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Kings League is seeking a Media Rights Partnerships Director to lead relationships with our global media rights sales agency and oversee broadcaster partnerships across international markets.

This role shapes and drives the media rights strategy, sets go-to-market priorities, and owns execution from planning to delivery, partnering with internal teams and external broadcasters to maximize commercial performance.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in media rights sales, sports media, broadcasting, or a related industry.
• Proven track record independently managing broadcaster relationships and leading complex commercial negotiations.
• Strong commercial mindset with excellent contract negotiation skills.
• Experience working with external agencies or strategic commercial partners.
• Solid understanding of media rights distribution and broadcast operations.
• Technical knowledge allowing effective collaboration with engineering and delivery teams.
• Familiarity with rights management platforms, CRM systems, and reporting tools.
• Existing network within the broadcasting and media rights industry is highly desirable.
• Experience working with sports rights, entertainment, film/TV, or esports rights is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Drive the commercial performance of our media rights sales partnership.
• Independently define go-to-market strategy: which rights categories, leagues, and territories to prioritize, and how the business grows.
• Set the standards and oversee the systems that support execution (CRM, rights management platforms, reporting tools).
• Own the direction of our broadcaster relationships at a strategic level.
• Ensure compliance, contract governance, and risk management are built into every deal.
• Serve as primary point of contact for a portfolio of broadcaster clients.
• Run the full sales cycle independently: pitching packages, negotiating rights fees, and closing contract renewals.
• Build and maintain relationships at both senior decision-maker and day-to-day levels.
• Develop a deep understanding of each broadcaster's audience, scheduling needs, and platform mix (linear, streaming, OTT) to inform how rights are packaged and pitched.
• Own renewal and retention strategy, proactively identifying and managing churn risk.
• Take ownership of day-to-day servicing: fielding queries, resolving issues, and coordinating internally to meet client needs.
• Lead onboarding for new broadcaster clients, covering contracts, technical setup, and workflows.
• Run regular account reviews and performance reporting for clients.
• Identify and drive upsell/cross-sell opportunities for additional rights packages or services.
• Oversee feed delivery, signal quality, and encoding/transmission standards.
• Coordinate with technical/ops teams to ensure content is delivered on time and to spec.
• Troubleshoot delivery issues across satellite, fiber, and OTT streaming infrastructure.
• Ensure technical delivery specs in contracts (SLAs, latency, format requirements) are met and enforced.
• Manage relationships with technical vendors and delivery partners.

Job description

Kings League has become a global phenomenon that has revolutionized and elevated sport and entertainment to a new dimension. A new 7-a-side football league with teams chaired by the world's best streamers and content creators, with revolutionary rules aimed at uniting the best of football and e-sports. Passionate, optimist, open-minded and disruptive, we reimagine the game every day, all together.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Media Rights Partnerships Director to lead the relationship with our global media rights sales agency and oversee key broadcaster partnerships across international markets.

This role will shape and drive the overall media rights strategy — setting go-to-market priorities across rights categories, leagues, and territories — and take full ownership of translating that strategy into strong commercial performance. You'll own the complete arc from strategic planning through execution: setting sales priorities, defining how rights are positioned and packaged to the market, and driving alignment across internal teams, external partners, and broadcasters to deliver on it. The ideal candidate brings strong strategic and commercial judgment — the ability to set direction and run with it independently — paired with excellent stakeholder management skills and a solid understanding of media rights operations and content delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Direction & Partner Oversight

• Drive the commercial performance of our media rights sales partnership
• Independently define go-to-market strategy: which rights categories, leagues, and territories to prioritize, and how the business grows
• Set the standards and oversee the systems that support execution (CRM, rights management platforms, reporting tools)
• Own the direction of our broadcaster relationships at a strategic level
• Ensure compliance, contract governance, and risk management are built into every deal

Broadcaster Relationship Management

• Serve as primary point of contact for a portfolio of broadcaster clients
• Run the full sales cycle independently: pitching packages, negotiating rights fees, and closing contract renewals
• Build and maintain relationships at both senior decision-maker and day-to-day levels
• Develop a deep understanding of each broadcaster's audience, scheduling needs, and platform mix (linear, streaming, OTT) to inform how rights are packaged and pitched
• Own renewal and retention strategy, proactively identifying and managing churn risk

Client Success & Account Management

• Take ownership of day-to-day servicing: fielding queries, resolving issues, and coordinating internally to meet client needs
• Lead onboarding for new broadcaster clients, covering contracts, technical setup, and workflows
• Run regular account reviews and performance reporting for clients
• Identify and drive upsell/cross-sell opportunities for additional rights packages or services

Technical & Operational Oversight

• Oversee feed delivery, signal quality, and encoding/transmission standards
• Coordinate with technical/ops teams to ensure content is delivered on time and to spec
• Troubleshoot delivery issues across satellite, fiber, and OTT streaming infrastructure
• Ensure technical delivery specs in contracts (SLAs, latency, format requirements) are met and enforced
• Manage relationships with technical vendors and delivery partners

Qualifications:

• 8+ years of experience in media rights sales, sports media, broadcasting, or a related industry
• Proven track record independently managing broadcaster relationships and leading complex commercial negotiations
• Strong commercial mindset with excellent contract negotiation skills
• Experience working with external agencies or strategic commercial partners
• Solid understanding of media rights distribution and broadcast operations
• Technical knowledge allowing effective collaboration with engineering and delivery teams
• Familiarity with rights management platforms, CRM systems, and reporting tools
• Existing network within the broadcasting and media rights industry is highly desirable
• Experience working with sports rights, entertainment, film/TV, or esports rights is a plus