Careers at SPORTFIVE: Interview with Jessica Stommel
Published on
by Kristin Podewils
What if, in your job, you were to bring about not just revenue, but real change? Jessica Stommel has been heading up the Women’s Football Sales Hub at SPORTFIVE in Germany since 2024 and is working to further professionalise women’s football and ensure its sustainable growth.
Jessica originally comes from a background in equestrian sports. In this interview, she explains why women’s sport is a real passion of hers, what sales in the sports business is really all about beyond the clichés, and why diversity makes teams stronger.
In this Insight:
Jessica, at the start of your career, it wasn’t clear that you’d end up being responsible for the marketing of women’s football at SPORTFIVE. How did that come about?
I originally come from a background in equestrian sports and was an active show jumper myself. To turn my hobby into a career, I studied ‘Equine Sports & Business’ in the Netherlands – a mix of sports management and equestrian sports.
After that, I worked in international event management, where I was already responsible for sales and sponsorship at European Championships. It was during a further training course on ‘Sustainability Management in the Sports Business’ at Leuphana University in Lüneburg that I first made contact with SPORTFIVE.
Some time later, a vacancy arose in the Borussia Dortmund team, which was incredibly exciting for me as a passionate BVB fan – and with a focus on women’s football, no less. That was the deciding factor for me: that I could really shape things rather than just manage them. I was really keen to get stuck in.
What exactly is your role at SPORTFIVE?
I head up the Women’s Football Sales Hub Germany, which SPORTFIVE established around a year and a half ago, and am responsible for the marketing of women’s football at both a strategic and operational level. We develop marketing and development strategies for the women’s teams at our partner clubs and are responsible for acquiring new partners and sponsors.
In doing so, we always keep an eye on the potential that exists in the German market for women’s football and liaise closely with our colleagues from the international Women’s Football Sales Hubs.
What do you particularly enjoy about your job?
The fact that you can really make a difference: for the players, for the club and, ultimately, for gender equality in society. Women’s football is no longer a niche sport, but a genuine movement and an economically vital growth sector. It is the fastest-growing sport in the world.
Further professionalising women’s football and contributing to its sustainable growth motivates me anew every day, just as do the many highlight moments – the emotions, the inspiring conversations, and all the female empowerment issues that underpin it.
The best thing is: the players, the clubs and the people I work with are very grateful for my commitment. That is also one reason why networking in women’s football is much easier, because everyone is working towards the same goal: to advance women’s football and women’s sport as a whole.
Sales is about much more than just the next deal. It’s about building trusting relationships, providing advice and thinking strategically.
Jessica Stommel
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SPORTFIVE would like to attract more women to the sales sector as a whole, including areas outside women’s sport. Sales has traditionally been a male-dominated field. Why is sales an attractive career path for women too?
The term ‘sales’ is often still associated with an outdated cliché – the man in a suit and tie pulling up in a company car. Yet sales has changed enormously in recent years: today, it’s much more about building trusting relationships with companies and decision-makers, about providing advice and strategic thinking, and no longer just about ‘deal, deal, deal’.
That is precisely what makes the job attractive: you can contribute ideas, develop concepts and really make a difference. To achieve this, we need more visible, diverse role models and fewer clichés – about the sports business as well as about sales. And: female athletes often have an advantage because they have learnt to cope with the pressure to perform in that environment.
Being quiet isn’t a weakness. What matters is staying true to yourself – and not just speaking up for the sake of being noticed.
Jessica Stommel
Why does the sales sector benefit from greater diversity, and what advice do you have for women in sales?
For me, women bring strengths such as different perspectives, authenticity and empathy – in other words, listening, understanding and then taking targeted action. Different perspectives improve the quality of the decisions made – and thus also sales. When it comes to certain social issues, such as gender gaps in health, pensions, finance and so on, women are simply the more authentic points of contact because they experience these issues in their everyday lives. It’s not about pitting men against women, but about forming the best team for success.
I’m not a fan of ticking off lists of qualities that women in sales are expected to possess. The important thing is to remain authentic and not put yourself under pressure – for example, by feeling you have to be loud all the time just to be noticed. Being quiet is not a weakness. I’ve had very good experiences with being bold and taking a stand when I have a clear point to make and offer genuine added value. That makes a stronger impression than constantly chiming in.
At SPORTFIVE, there is a real openness to having more women in sales, and I really appreciate the respectful and professional working environment. My hope is that I won’t constantly be seen through the lens of my gender, but simply as a person who brings their own individual strengths, experiences and perspectives to the table. I would be delighted if, one day, we had so many women in sales that it was no longer seen as anything out of the ordinary.
