Bizzabo launches Sponsor ROI to help event teams prove sponsor value and grow sponsorship revenue

NEW YORK, November 3, 2026. Bizzabo, the Event Experience Operating System for modern enterprise organizations, today announced the general availability of Sponsor ROI by Bizzabo. Sponsor ROI gives event teams one place to run their sponsor program, connect sponsors with the attendees who fit their ideal customer profile, and show each sponsor what their investment delivered.

Sponsor ROI is built for event teams running large sponsor programs, typically events with 15 or more sponsors and 300 or more attendees.

Event teams are being asked to prove sponsor value

Sponsorship is a core revenue line for many conferences and trade shows, and renewals depend on sponsors seeing a return. Event teams now get harder questions after every event: What did it deliver? How many qualified leads? Did they turn into pipeline?

The tools haven't kept up. Sponsors are managed across email, spreadsheets, and separate apps. Meetings between sponsors and buyers are left to chance. Lead lists arrive days after the event, and there's no clear line from booth conversations to pipeline. According to the Freeman 2024 Event Organizer Trends Report, 92% of organizers say helping exhibitors meet customers and prospects is extremely or very important, but only 68% feel effective at delivering it.

"Event teams carry the pressure to prove sponsorship ROI, and by renewal season they're the ones answering for it," said Alon Alroy, co-founder and CMO of Bizzabo. "We built Sponsor ROI so they can show sponsors exactly what their investment delivered, without hours of spreadsheet work. When sponsors can see what they got back, they renew and invest more."

What Sponsor ROI includes

Sponsor ROI covers the full sponsor journey, before, during, and after the event:

• Sponsor Portal: one hub where sponsors complete tasks, register their team, upload logos and one-pagers, and manage lead retrieval licenses. Event teams see what's done and what's outstanding at a glance.
• ICP Matchmaking: sponsors describe who they want to meet in a customizable form, and an AI matching engine surfaces the attendees who fit their ideal customer profile.
• Meeting Scheduling: sponsors find attendees in the attendee directory, chat with them, and book one-on-one meetings, all in the Bizzabo event app.
• Lead Retrieval: sponsors capture leads by scanning QR codes or tapping Klik SmartBadges™ in the Bizzabo event app, and answer custom qualification questions so every lead comes with context.
• CRM Sync: leads sync from the sponsor portal to each sponsor's CRM in real time, so follow-up starts while conversations are still fresh.
• Sponsor Reporting: reports on meeting outcomes, sponsored session engagement, and mobile app analytics, available during and after the event.

Because Sponsor ROI runs on the same platform as registration, the event app, and onsite, event teams work from one source of attendee data instead of stitching together separate sponsor tools.

Early results from beta customers

Customer Management Practice (CMP) ran its largest sponsor program on Sponsor ROI at Customer Contact Week (CCW) Las Vegas 2026. CMP managed 294 sponsors in one portal. Sponsors and attendees exchanged 1,799 meeting requests, and 54% of those requests came from sponsors actively pursuing the buyers they wanted to meet. 141 sponsors (48%) completed an ICP form to power matchmaking.

"The ICP matchmaking added another layer of tangible value to our sponsors' experience. This particular feature becomes more powerful the larger an event becomes, as it helps sponsors identify the highest-value connections for their specific business development needs," said Michael DeJager, Managing Director, Events, CMP.

Nitrogen Wealth used the Sponsor Portal and Lead Retrieval at its Fearless Investing Summit 2026, which drew more than 1,000 attendees. Sponsors actively used 35 of the 39 portals created, an 88% adoption rate, and scanned 582 leads through the Bizzabo mobile app.

"The portal was great because it saved me time collecting data and housed everything in one place. The lead capture was a big hit with our sponsors and was great that it all connected through the mobile app," said Callie Devaney, Events Director, Nitrogen Wealth.

Availability

Sponsor ROI is available today to new and existing Bizzabo customers. Event teams can take the interactive product tour and request a demo on the Sponsor ROI page.

On November 19, Bizzabo will host a live webinar with beta customers and a product walkthrough of Sponsor ROI.