2 Minutes With … Jack Jenkins, VP and Head of Brand Partnerships at Overtime
Jack is the vice president and head of brand partnerships at Overtime, a digital publisher with nearly 100 million followers.
In that role, he connects brands with its four wholly-owned sports leagues including Overtime Elite in men's basketball, Overtime Select for women's hoops, OT7 in football and OTX for boxing. He is responsible for building partnerships rooted in content, media, sponsorships and athlete influence.
After joining in 2020, Jack established Overtime Elite's revenue strategy that led to multimillion-dollar partnerships with Gatorade, State Farm, GMC and Adidas. Earlier, Jack worked for Fox Sports, Omnicom's Optimum Sports and Publicis' Starcom.
We spent two minutes with Jack to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he's admired.
Jack, tell us …
Where you grew up, and where you live now.
I grew up in Bethesda, Md., and I now live outside of Chicago.
Your earliest sports memory.
When I was around 10, my dad coached my little league team. I was on the mound, and my best friend was behind home plate. I was facing a power hitter in a late-inning, game-clinching moment. I threw two fastballs, both of which were pummeled to deep left field, just foul. My best friend signaled for a change up and I shook him off. He was persistent, so I laid off the gas. Strike three. Game over. Postgame orange slices never tasted so good.
Your favorite sports team(s).
When you work in sports, it's hard to be a pure fan. The game looks different when you're calculating the value of every moment. But, I was just a teenager when the 2001-02 Maryland Terrapins men's basketball team won the tournament. They were perfect. As a proud University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, I'll forever root for the Badgers.
Your favorite athlete(s).
Your favorite sports show or podcast.
I grew up binging Stu Scott and Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter. SC is not what it once was, but I still watch and admire SVP when I have the chance. I'm also a fan of "Live From" on Golf Channel.
Your favorite sports movie and/or video game.
I have too many favorites to pick one, so I'll share five, each featuring a different sport:
Cool Runnings (bobsledding)
Miracle (ice hockey)
Any Given Sunday (football)
Happy Gilmore (golf)
Love & Basketball (basketball)
A recent project you're proud of.
Overtime's agreement with Adidas. Every Overtime employee contributes to it, our athletes gain from it, and Adidas will grow because of it. I'm equally proud of Overtime's expanded commitment to the women's game. Overtime Select, our women's basketball league set to debut in the summer, will empower the next wave of NCAAW and WNBA stars with basketball acceleration and NIL preparation.
Someone else's project that you admired recently.
Taylor Swift is a masterful marketer. Her influence, the loyalty she commands, the product she delivers, the creativity she expresses, the scarcity tactics she deploys—the list goes on. The Eras Tour is a commercial machine that every marketer should tip their cap to.
What sports can do that nothing else can.
Level the field.
What you'd be doing if you weren't in the sports world.
My day would be divided between running a sandwich shop and giving golf lessons to beginners.
2 Minutes With is our regular interview series where we chat with creatives about their backgrounds, creative inspirations, work they admire and more. For more about 2 Minutes With, or to be considered for the series, please get in touch.
