Spencer Frey Streamlines the Sponsorship Process

UCSB alum Spencer Frey has always wanted to run a business. As a kid, he opened a lemonade stand. When he got older, he mowed lawns for some extra cash. Later in life, he took on jobs like tutoring and swimming lessons. While seemingly trivial, each gig brought him one step closer to his goal. 

Finally, in 2022, he and his business partner purchased SponsorPitch, a sponsorship sales platform that allows seamless connections between brands and sellers. In short, the platform provides data on thousands of brands so that sellers — anyone with an audience such as events, nonprofits, or sports teams — can browse a list of brands and discover who they want to work with. Similarly, brands can use the platform to assess the right sellers.

Frey works out of Santa Barbara, where he has lived for 11 years. The 31-year-old is originally from New Jersey, but when I asked him if he was from Santa Barbara, he laughed and said he “wished” he was. After graduating high school on the East Coast, he packed up his bags and drove across the country for a month, “kind of for the California dreaming,” he joked. While driving along the 101 freeway after visiting a friend in San Francisco, he “almost stumbled across Santa Barbara.” He said that he immediately fell in love with the city. 

He decided to stay and attended SBCC before transferring to UCSB, where he studied physics and completed the Technology Management Program (TMP), a branch of the School of Engineering that focuses on technological innovation. Entering the program was “a no-brainer for me,” he said. In the TMP program, Frey learned from teachers with “real-world experiences” who would share their esoteric knowledge with the students. Hearing stories and gaining advice from business owners and CFOs excited Frey and reminded him of his entrepreneurial goals. 

After graduating in 2018, he knew he wanted to stay, so he started working for an aerospace company in Goleta, where he had previously interned. He admitted that the work, while interesting, wasn’t fulfilling. He wanted to interact with people and utilize his creativity. “I wasn’t getting to travel or talk to customers,” he said.

When he came across SponsorPitch while researching existing businesses online, he saw the potential that the original owners didn’t. Looking into it more, he discovered that the sponsorship world is somewhat convoluted. “There’s this disconnect between brands and sellers.” 

SponsorPitch eliminates the middleman in sponsorship deals and thus allows for direct communication between brands and sellers. It provides a system where sellers can view a brand’s activity and data, access contact information, and directly book meetings with brands. “People should use SponsorPitch because it supercharges their sponsorship sales,” said Frey. 

SponsorPitch caters to large-scale events such as festivals and conferences as well as athletes, sports teams, and other creators. Some organizations that have recently used the platform on the seller side are the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Ventura County Music Awards. 

Notably, Frey points out that SponsorPitch isn’t exclusive to large-scale events. Many nonprofits across the country use the product. “Nobody’s doing exactly what we’re doing,” he said. Recently, SponsorPitch added the Pitch Board feature to its product, so someone looking for sponsors can add information about an upcoming event, such as expected audience and type of event, and brands will get notified if the pitch matches their needs. The SponsorPitch database also allows people to find brands they may not know about and discover sponsors near them, said Frey. 

See sponsorpitch.com.