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And the winner is.....
Not even a gridlocked city of London could dampen the spirits of those attending the 2006 Sport Industry Awards taking place at the prestigious riverside venue, Old Billingsgate Market.
This had promised for months to be a glittering occasion and unlike certain distributors in our business, the organisers well and truly delivered. A packed house, black tie style and some popular UK sports stars, including Michael Vaughn, Mike Tindall and Amir Kahn, combined to reinforce the evening’s must have status. Some 1,500 guests from every aspect of sports business gathered to hear the results of the celebrity judging panel and were treated to a night of sheer entertainment, sporting energy and a reminder of the emotion that drives our industry. Hosted superbly by Martin Bayfield and Suzie Perry,with some rather random input by Bobby Davro, the evening gave an insight into all the Award nominations, as well as some of the superb causes that sport inspires.
It was, of course (despite a government educational belief to the contrary) all about winning. And the focal point of the evening was the long awaited announcement of those who had received the judging panel thumbs up.
The Sport England Community Programme Award:
WINNER: NatWest, CricketForce
“It’s not just about simple sponsorship, it’s what you achieve and through the community programme we achieved our goals of getting more women and girls involved in Cricket.We’ve spent the whole year working on this project, so to win this award seals all the good work that has been done and gives recognition for all the hard work that has gone into it.”
Helen Page: Natwest Marketing Director.
Best Promotion of a Sport by a Governing Body (Sponsored by Marsh):
WINNER: BPA - Visa Paralympic World Cup
“Winning this award gives a fantastic recognition to everything that has gone into an event like the Paralmpics. Also that sport doesn’t know any boundaries between disability and non disabled and helps bring people together.”
Mike Brace, Chairman of the British Paralympic Association.
Best Newspaper Sport Coverage (Sponsored by UK Sport):
Winner: The Times
Best Use of New Media in Sport (Sponsored by Aura Sports):
WINNER: Orange, Frank Lampard's 3G Video Diaries
“It’s an exciting evening for us at Orange and we’re thrilled to win this award. We were trying to bring something exciting and different sporting community and bring something extra for fans. The Sports Industry Awards puts you up against your fellow peers and for that alone it means even more winning this.”
Darrell McLennan Fordyce: Head of Sports and Games at Orange Brand Marketing.
Best Sport Magazine (Sponsored by Amer Sports):
Winner: Observer Sport Monthly
“We’ve won this award before so are pleased to get it back. At the Observer we would like to think we set the benchmark for sports reporting and so it’s great to be recognised for that. You want to judged by your peers and through receiving this award we feel we’ve achieved that.”
Nick Greenslade: Deputy Sports Editor of the Observer Sports Monthly.
Best Sport Poster / Published Advertisement (Sponsored by Action Images):
WINNER: Reebok – I am what I am
“To win this award is a great honour.We were trying to make the brand impact in a different way step outside the usual realm of sports. It worked for us, this award is a partial recognition of that and so we’re really pleased.”
Roy Gardener: Director of Lifestyle, Reebok Europe:
Best TV Sport Commercial (Sponsored by Number One Piccadilly):
Winner: BBC Sport, Wimbledon on the BBC
“Winning this award is very exciting because we tried to do something different for Wimbledon this year and challenge the conventional view of it. Creating awareness and engaging a much younger target audience and I believe we got what we set out to achieve.”
Louise Holmes: Marketing Manager, BBC Sport
Best Use of PR in a Sport Campaign:
WINNER: Coca-Cola, Win a Player
Best Sponsorship of a Sport Event or Programme:
WINNER: Coca-Cola, The Coca-Cola Football League
The Eurostar European Sport Sponsorship Award (Sponsored by Eurostar):
WINNER: Castorama & B&Q, Ellen MacArthur’s Round the World Record Attempt
Best Sponsorship of a Sport Team or Individual (Sponsored by Jobswithballs.com):
WINNER: Vodafone, England Cricket Team
“We come here every year because we spend an awful lot of time trying to get value for money out of our sponsorship in both football and cricket. Focusing on fans and offering them something different when they come to the ground and it great to get the recognition for all that work. People have put in a lot of hours in our projects trying to make things as creative as possible.”
Daragh Persse: Senior Sponsorship and media manager, Vodaphone:
Sport Brand of the Year (Sponsored by Collyer-Bristow Solicitors):
Winner: London 2012
The FT Sport Business Person of the Year:
Winner: London 2012 Chief Executive, Keith Mills
One of the highlights of the evening was the special award for the Outstanding Contribution to British sport. And it was without a doubt a highly popular decision by the judging panel when Keith Mills, the driving force behind the 2012 Olympic initiative was also presented with this accolade. His vision, inspirational leadership and sheer belief in Britain’s ability to win the Olympic host city selection was acknowledged with a standing ovation from the guests, who also clearly recognised the sheer vitality that his work would add to an industry that has been gowing through a very difficult transition. Mills commented: “I’m fantastically proud to win both awards. Last July,while we were all clearly elated out in Singapore, what we didn’t realise was what the positive effect it was having on everyone back in the UK.” When asked about the Sports Industry Awards themselves, he went on to say: “I think the Sports Industry Awards are essential to the industry. They raise the game for everyone in the business. I was on the judging panel last year and I was incredibly impressed with the standard of the entrants but also crucially it’s the one time of the year that the whole industry comes together. I really hope this event continues to be a great success and it continues to grow in numbers years on year.”
SGB UK would like to thank and applaud Nick Keller who has created an event that truly reflects the modern sports industry and its heritage. This was an occasion where everyone, though competing for the glittering prizes, was united in their dedication, vitality and sheer love of the business we are all involved in. That is the very spirit of sport! Congratulations to you and your own winning team Nick
