THE CHALLENGE
DICK’S Sporting Goods needed a disciplined, always-on talent strategy capable of driving store traffic nationally, capitalizing on championship moments in real time, and activating partnerships across leagues, communities, and media channels.

The challenge was not access to talent. It was activating talent at speed, at scale, and with retail impact.

THE STRATEGY
GSE built a year-round talent ecosystem designed to keep DICK’S culturally present and commercially relevant.

The approach centered on three pillars:
• Talent at scale to drive national store traffic
• Real-time championship integration
• Multi-vertical activation across sports, entertainment, retail, and community

Rather than treat appearances as isolated moments, GSE structured a fully integrated platform that connects live engagement, retail conversion, digital content, and community impact.

THE EXECUTION
GSE executed a nationwide, year-round talent platform across House of Sport flagships and traditional Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, activating athletes at scale to drive retail traffic and cultural relevance.

Talent was deployed across grand openings, championship celebrations, company meetings, partnership amplification with properties including the Celtics, Red Sox, WNBA, Texas, Notre Dame, Tennessee, and Olympic programs, as well as social activations, holiday commercials, and CALIA house brand initiatives. Speed defined the platform.

Championship-winning athletes were mobilized within hours or days of major titles, including culturally dominant moments such as the Indiana University quarterback appearance immediately following a national championship. These rapid turnarounds converted peak visibility into immediate in-store traffic, driving thousands to retail locations and generating millions of social impressions.

Beyond procurement, GSE managed full lifecycle execution from negotiation and logistics through on-site operations, while delivering custom experiential programs including 3-on-3 tournaments, Bat Lab events, White-Label Camps, and Shop with a Pro initiatives.

THE RESULTS
The result was a disciplined, scalable talent system that supported hundreds of activations annually and positioned DICK’S to operate at the speed of sport.

Rather than episodic appearances, the partnership delivered a structured, always-on platform that connected live engagement, digital momentum, and community impact at a national scale.

PROGRAM RESULTS
• Hundreds of Activations Annually
• National Coverage Across Flagship & Traditional Stores
• Rapid Championship-to-Retail Turnarounds
• Multi-League Representation Across Major U.S. Sports
• Integrated Live, Digital, and Community Programming