Born here
Baltimore native. Calvert Hall graduate.
Mario Armstrong
Baltimore Starlings · Corporate Partnership Account Executive
My approach to the opportunity
How I would help build the business.
24
The Baltimore Starlings are launching a new franchise and building its partnership base. This is how I would approach the opportunity, where I’d start, what I’d sell and how I’d create net-new revenue.
My case for the Starlings
I know how to build revenue before the brand is fully built.
I’ve built sponsorship revenue around media properties before they had built-in awareness, inherited advertiser relationships or an established sales pipeline.
See the case
The receipts
I’VE BUILT SPONSORSHIP REVENUE FROM THE GROUND UP.
I’ve generated more than $4M in sponsorship revenue, much of it by building brand relationships, sales pipelines and sponsor interest without an established advertiser base already in place.
$4M+Sponsorship revenue
OriginalMedia properties built and monetized
Net-newBusiness created without an inherited pipeline
That experience translates directly to building founding partners for a new franchise.
Why Baltimore matters
I COME WITH BALTIMORE ACCESS.
Worked here
Former Mayor’s Office experience.
Connected here
Relationships across Baltimore business, civic and media circles, including GBC, BDC and local leadership.
Built national reach, then came home
Built a national media career in New York and returned to Baltimore with a national profile and local roots.
For a new franchise, that shortens the distance to the first conversation.
The first job
Founding partners are the first job.
The immediate priority is building a real founding-partner base for a brand-new franchise.
Early category ownership
Brands that want to establish a position early.
Women’s sports growth
Companies that want to align with the momentum around women’s professional sports.
Baltimore community
Organizations that want to be seen helping build something new in the city.
Multi-platform value
Partners looking for community, hospitality, digital, social and game-night value.
Where I’d start
Who I’d hunt first.
Health & wellness
Hospitals, wellness, health services, insurers and family-focused health brands.
Professional services
Law, consulting, accounting, engineering and other relationship-driven businesses.
Financial services
Banks, wealth, payments and financial brands that value community presence, hospitality and long-term relationships.
Technology
Cybersecurity, enterprise technology, infrastructure, AI and other regional technology companies.
Baltimore growth companies
Companies making a real investment in the region through expansion, hiring, relocation, acquisitions or new facilities.
I’d look for companies making a real bet on this region, then ask whether the Starlings can help make that investment more valuable.
From category to pipeline
I’M NOT STARTING WITH A LIST OF LOGOS. I’M STARTING WITH A REASON TO CALL.
01
Find the category
Where is there budget, relevance and enough commercial upside?
02
Find the business moment
Expansion, leadership change, relocation, acquisition, hiring, new facility or major initiative.
03
Find the business need
Visibility, recruiting, client access, community relevance, customer growth, employee engagement or hospitality.
04
Build the Starlings case
Why would a new Baltimore women’s professional basketball property matter to this company now?
05
Build the package
Founding-partner rights, category ownership, game-night assets, community, hospitality, digital, social and original media.
The process builds the pipeline.
What that looks like in the market
A few places I’d start.
T. Rowe Price
Financial ServicesWhy it gets my attention
Major Baltimore-based company with hometown identity, scale and a strong relationship-driven business.
What I’d explore
Could the Starlings create a distinct Baltimore platform around employees, clients, community and women’s sports?
PNC
Financial ServicesWhy it gets my attention
Large regional presence, major corporate scale and visible women in leadership.
What I’d explore
Could women’s leadership, financial confidence, small-business or community programming create a reason to become an early Starlings partner?
KCI Technologies
Professional ServicesWhy it gets my attention
Major headquarters move to Hunt Valley, hundreds of employees and a strong regional business footprint.
What I’d explore
Recruiting, client relationships, employee engagement, hospitality and regional visibility.
Technology / Connectivity Partner
Fan experience inventoryVerizonT-MobileAT&TComcast
Commercial hypothesis
Could one of these brands own the Starlings’ in-arena connectivity experience?
- Official Wi-Fi Partner
- Branded login portal
- Arena connectivity messaging
- Digital fan touchpoints
- Game-night signage
- Social, hospitality and presenting rights
The move: turn a useful fan experience into ownable sponsor inventory.
Erickson Senior Living
Health & WellnessWhy it gets my attention
Large Baltimore-area company with major growth plans and a need to reach families, employees and regional communities.
What I’d explore
Awareness, lead generation, employee engagement, hospitality and community visibility.
Illustrative outside-in opportunities and target prospects—not claims of category availability. Actual pursuit would depend on existing arena, league and property rights, category exclusivity and current relationships.
Original content + media partnerships
THE TEAM NEEDS REASONS TO MATTER BETWEEN GAMES.
Original content can create sponsor inventory, audience growth, player storytelling and year-round relevance.
I KNOW HOW TO BRING BRANDS INTO ORIGINAL MEDIA.
Now streaming · Episode 0124:18
A documentary series
Building the Starlings
Follow the people, decisions and defining moments behind the launch of Baltimore’s newest professional women’s basketball team.
Episode 0107:42 / 24:18
01The players and coaches
02The city and its fans
03The business being built
A founding team partner could also become the presenting partner of the journey.
Why this role fits
THIS IS THE KIND OF BUILD I’M WIRED FOR.
A new franchise in Baltimore, where partnerships have to be built from zero, relationships have to be created, and the commercial story has to be told clearly, that’s much closer to my natural skill set.
NEW BUSINESS ORIGINATION
SPONSORSHIP SALES
COMMERCIAL STORYTELLING
C-SUITE PRESENTATION
BALTIMORE RELATIONSHIPS
ORIGINAL MEDIA THINKING
MEDIA-TRAINED SPOKESPERSON + LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS
This is exactly the kind of sales environment where I do my best work.
The ask
Worth a conversation?
I know how to create sponsorship revenue, originate business, build relationships from scratch and help brands see the upside in getting in early.
For a new franchise, that is the work.
I’d welcome a conversation about helping the Starlings build:
Founding partners
Net-new business
Creative sponsorship packages
Original media partnerships
Long-term commercial momentum