Description

Job Summary
Sports Reference may traffic in hard numbers and statistics, but we fully embrace the passion, the disappointment, and the sometimes absurdity of fandom. Our sites and our history are littered with Easter eggs such as our Reindeer pages, Andrew Bynum's shot charts, and some of the only April Fool's gags that land. To help us scale our unique voice, we are looking for a creative force who can connect us even more tightly with sports fans the world over while grounding that creativity in strategic growth.

We are looking for an experienced, high-impact Marketing Manager to bridge the gap between product strategy, brand narrative, and revenue growth. We need a creative strategist who is equally driven by measurable impact – someone who understands that content is most effective when it drives users through the funnel and converts engagement into revenue.

In this role, you will serve as an essential "connector" across the marketing department. You will take roadmaps and insights from our Product Marketing Managers and develop them into compelling brand narratives that resonate with our millions of users. Additionally, by collaborating with our Social Media and Community Managers, you will ensure our cross-platform efforts (from landing pages to email and social) are cohesive, on-brand, and strategically aligned.

Equally important in this role is a commitment to data-driven creativity. While you will lead the development of brand campaigns, you will also work with team members to measure results by building and maintaining reporting dashboards. You won't just launch campaigns; you will champion the measurement of their success, using data to inform our content ecosystem and prove the efficacy of our brand strategy. 

We currently serve 20 million (and growing) monthly users on our free, ad-supported Reference Sites (Baseball-Reference.com, Basketball-Reference.com, FBref.com, etc.) and Stathead.com, our SaaS offering that provides powerful search and filtering capabilities for deeper exploration of our vast databases.  In 2023, we acquired ImmaculateGrid.com, the viral baseball trivia game, and have since launched ad-supported grid games for basketball, football, hockey, and soccer.  

To Apply
Please visit our jobs website at https://sports-reference-llc.breezy.hr/ and submit your resume and a cover letter for this position.  Also, as a postscript (p.s.) at the end of your cover letter, please share a piece of creative sports content that really grabbed your attention recently. Include a link to the content, if possible.

We will begin the phone interview process the week of February 9th, 2026.  Applications arriving after this date will be collected, but will receive consideration at the discretion of the hiring manager based on the progress we have made in filling the position.  We have provided a general outline of our interview process here: https://www.sports-reference.com/job-interview-process.html 

Our Purpose and Values
We democratize data, so our users enjoy, understand, and share the sports they love.

We value:

• Respect for our users, the athletes we cover, and our team;
• Craftsmanship in building tools and products;
• Reliable tools and services that meet our users' needs every day; and
• Data democratization. We publish many data sets for emerging and underserved sports.  The New York Times covered our recognition of the Negro Leagues as major leagues in the summer of 2021.  We added women’s college basketball data to our sites in 2023 and now have the only publicly available database of every score in women’s NCAA Division 1 history.

To meet these expectations, we encourage team members to participate in company discussions and share new ideas, features or potential solutions to problems.

Background
Sports Reference has intentionally shifted toward dedicated product teams to drive innovation and feature development. By embedding our Product Marketing Managers (PMMs) directly within these teams, we have successfully integrated product strategy with marketing execution. This evolution also created a unique opportunity within the Marketing Department to refine and unify how our overarching brand and product marketing work is executed.

To support this new structure and company strategy, we are seeking an experienced Marketing Manager. Working closely with the Executive Director of Marketing, this person will serve as the bridge between product marketing, brand and content strategy. This is a vital position that will not only help launch our newest features but will also play a key role in building the Sports Reference brand, connecting us with sports fans everywhere and driving revenue.

Goals and Tasks for Your First Year (In rough order of importance)
Must-Reach Goals and Tasks

• Build and measure a seamless content journey that deepens engagement and moves users down the funnel.
• Collaborate with the Executive Director of Marketing to advance our overarching creative and content strategy. 
  
  • Craft and lead the department content calendar in collaboration with Community and Social Media Managers. Ensure all marketing assets and touch points are consistent.  
  • Support content creation across the department.
• Collaborate with PMM’s and implement a system for translating PMM-led marketing plans into brand narratives and measurable campaigns. 
• Develop and coordinate overarching brand campaigns. 
• Partner with Product Marketing & Insights Coordinator to build and refine reporting dashboards. Use these dashboards to analyze campaign performance and efficacy of our full-funnel content journey. 
  
  • Integrate this data to directly inform the next iteration of our content and creative strategy. 

Nice-to-Reach Goals and Tasks

• Manage the production of creative assets as needed either through direct graphic design or by coordinating freelance designers.
• Provide high-level support for general marketing, brand initiatives and strategic partnerships.
• Support brand ambassador program including onboarding and management. 
• Develop new, repeatable, and high impact creative raising Sports Reference's profile substantially.

Expectations

• Continuously look for opportunities to effectively measure and iterate on our marketing and content efforts. 
• Complete projects related to company objectives as time and skills allow.
• Continue your ongoing professional development, which we will support.

Qualifications and Skills
A qualified candidate will satisfy the following:

• Evidence that you are capable of meeting many of the goals listed above.  
• Given this role is at the manager level, we would expect you to already have experience owning and reporting on marketing campaigns or creative projects from start to finish as the lead decision-maker. Will not consider applicants with no marketing experience.  
• This position will have no direct reports at this time.
• Have a history of getting things done (and done well).
• If you don’t think your application will have evidence that you can meet all of the "nice-to-reach goals and tasks" above but still are interested in the job and otherwise qualify, please apply. Nobody checks every box—we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others.

Salary
Salary range starting at $93,000 for U.S. based employees.  We are a remote-first company and determine our pay range for this position based on the market rates for Philadelphia, our home base.  The salary offered will be based on your experience and skill level.  

For candidates outside of the United States, we will calculate a local market rate based on pay for comparable positions in that market and comparable benefits packages when possible.

Annual bonuses are variable and are tied to a percentage of the company's end of year profits and the employee's time worked and salary earned during the year.  In the last three years, they have averaged 15% of an employee’s annual salary.

Benefits
Even though we are a small company, Sports Reference has a generous benefits package.

• The total value of our benefits package is up to $30,000.
• We cover full health and dental insurance costs for full-time employees and their dependent children. We cover 70%-80% of plans for an entire family.
• We have a 401k with a match on your contributions up to 4% of your base salary.  The 401k has many low cost investing options.  
• We pay all premiums for company-sponsored life and long-term disability insurance for all employees.
• We provide up to $7,000/year in continuing education benefits.
• Even if you live in or near Philly, you have the option to work remotely as much as you choose.  We generally work a standard workday, but with flexibility to adjust hours within that framework. 
• Any parent welcoming a new child to their family is entitled to 13 weeks of fully paid leave, and up to an additional 39 weeks at half-time.
• Employees begin with 18 days of PTO per year and an additional 8 paid company holidays and accrue sick leave at the rate of one day per month.
• We will generally buy you whatever equipment will make you the most productive.
• We typically will pay for reasonable moving-related expenses related to your acceptance of a position with Sports Reference. Please ask if you have questions regarding this benefit.
• We provide a $68/month remote work stipend to cover the cost of internet access and incidental expenses.
• For employees outside the United States, we will work to provide equivalent benefits or additional compensation.

Other Information

• Sports Reference's first site was launched in 2000.  We have bootstrapped ourselves to 42 full-time employees and have no venture capital backing.
• We are willing to provide accommodations for candidates for whom the timing or structure of our interview process may be challenging.   This may include early morning or evening interview times or provide payment to cover child care expenses if needed.  If you are applying for a role where verbal communication is not a significant requirement, we may consider an alternative form of interview as is reasonably possible and suitable.  Similarly, if an extended period of internet connectivity is a challenge, we may consider an alternate form of interview.  If we invite you to interview, please let us know of any possibly necessary accommodations.
• Our typical interview process is described at https://www.sports-reference.com/job-interview-process.html
• Sports Reference is a remote-first company. Sports Reference is located in Philadelphia and non-Philadelphia candidates will be considered on an equal footing to those who are local. Presently, all Sports Reference employees are working remotely at least some of the time, but those in the Philly area may work from the office on days of their choosing.
• This is a full-time position.
• Employment at Sports Reference LLC is at-will and this position is an at-will appointment.
• Applicants are generally preferred to have a legal right to work in the United States. Please let us know in your application if you do not have the right to work in the United States. We have hired two employees located outside of the United States, so we will consider foreign applicants. 
• 100% of our merchandise sales support youth sports.
• Sports Reference is a growing company, and your work will be highly visible and have a definite and immediate impact (Read about us in the New York Times and The Athletic ($)). We reached over 20 million users each month and served over 2.0 billion pages in 2023.

Sports Reference provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship status, civil union status, color, discrimination, domestic partnership status, domestic violence victim status, familial status, gender, gender expression, gender identity, gender transition, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, marriage to a co-worker, mental or physical disability or illness, military service, military and veteran status, national origin (including physical, cultural, or linguistic characteristics), nationality, parental leave, pregnancy (including childbirth, breastfeeding or medical or common conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), race (including traits that are historically associated with race, such as hair texture and protective hairstyles, including braids, locks and twists), religion, retaliation, sexual harassment, sexual or affectional orientation (actual or perceived, whether or not traditionally associated with the person’s designated sex at birth), status with regard to public assistance, transgender identity, unfavorable discharge of military status (less than “honorable” but not “dishonorable”), or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances, or on the basis of sports franchise preferences.