Introducing… Ollie Erwin, Sponsorship Account Manager at Surrey County Cricket Club
As part of our ‘A Life In Cricket’ Campaign, we will be talking about the passionate and committed individuals who work in cricket.
In this episode we meet Ollie, who tells us about her career to date and why she’d recommend a career in cricket to a young person.
Watch Ollie’s video below and keep scrolling to learn more about Ollie and her career.
How did you originally get into cricket?
My family, and Dad in particular, have always been sports mad so I’ve grown up surrounded by it and I’ve always loved to watch sport live – be it rugby, football, tennis or cricket. My first visit to the Oval was back in 2009 for England’s Ashes win which was a pretty good introduction to the game!
What did you do before you worked in cricket?
Having graduated from Durham University with a degree in History in 2018, I started at a sports marketing agency called Pitch Marketing Group where I sat in the Partnerships team working with a variety of brands and right-holders, including The Premier League, Premiership Rugby, LTA & The FA. It was a great introduction to the world of sport and a fantastic opportunity to work on a variety of different projects. During the summer of 2019, we worked with Uber Eats to activate their sponsorship of the ICC World Cup and were on the ground at over 30 matches, travelling up and down the country to the different venues, so that really got me into the sport.
When did you first join Surrey?
I joined the Commercial Team in March last year, ahead of the 2022 season, as Sponsorship Account Manager to manage Surrey’s partnership portfolio and help drive new business and build our future partnership strategy.
Why did you join Surrey?
I loved working agency side but was very interested to learn more about the commercial side of a successful sports organisation. With Surrey leading the way, both on and off the pitch, it looked like an exciting opportunity and club to work for.
What do you most enjoy about your current role?
The people and the variety. The team at Surrey and our partners are brilliant to work with and my role allows me to work closely with different departments and stakeholders which I really enjoy. All our partners are very different, from the likes of longstanding partner Kia to Xbox who help us talk to a new audience, and it is rewarding to help all our partners achieve their business objectives and achieve great results through our partnership. Every day is very different, a day could range from working closely with partners on their season activations to putting together new partner proposals, but the buzz of a matchday is hard to beat and makes it a very inspiring place to work.
What are you most looking forward to in cricket in 2023?
It’s going to be a huge summer of cricket here with the Vitality Blast, Ashes, The Hundred tournament and Surrey defending their County Championship title so there is a lot to look forward to but I’m very excited to see the first-ever Women’s Ashes match here at the Kia Oval on the 5th July.
To learn more about the ‘A Life In Cricket’ campaign, click here
To learn more about the Surrey Cricket Foundation, click here
