Excellence in sport management recognised at SPIA Asia 2019 Awards

Excellence in engagement, events, management, marketing and technology - from business, organisations and venue large and small - have been recognised at the SPIA Asia 2019 sports industry awards on Tuesday night in the Philippine capital of Manila.

With Rugby World Cup 2019 a multiple winner, in both the both Best International Sporting Event of the Year and Best Sports Digital Platform of the Year categories, Tokyo also secured the Best Mass Participation Event of the Year Award for the Tokyo Marathon.

Other significant awards saw the City Football Group secure a win in the Best Fan Engagement Campaign of the Year category for the TECNO Race to Manchester City in India - a 60-day, app-based fitness challenge run in conjunction with Indian mobile brand TECNO Mobile - and Lagardère Sports presented with Best Integrated Marketing Campaign of the Year award for the WTA Finals 2018 in Singapore.

Lagardère Sports also won the Best Sports Marketing Agency of the Year prize.

Australia also secured a pair of wins with Atrium Sports collecting the Best Use of Technology in Sports for its Kilsyth Basketball Connected Stadium project while VenuesLive/Optus Stadium won the Best Sport Tourism Destination Campaign of the Year Award for #unitedinperth initiative.

The awards were made at a dinner at the Grand Hyatt Manila, which was attended by notable guests including Alan Peter Cayetano, Chairman of PHISGOC (the organising committee of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games) and Philippine House of Representatives Speaker; former Brazil footballer and now sports marketer Ronaldo Nazario de Lima; and Olympic gold medal-winning American runner Dr. Edwin Moses, now Chairman of the Education Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Filipino boxer Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao was due to attend the awards dinner, but was unable to travel due to Typhoon Tisoy, a tropical storm that struck the Philippines on Tuesday.

Commenting on the awards, Eric M. Gottschalk, Chief Executive of SPIA Asia, stated “every year, SPIA Asia recognises the special contributions and achievements of our host country - we’ve done it before in Bangkok, Thailand, and it’s no different this year in the Philippines.

“Back in SPIA Asia 2015, the Philippine Sports Commission announced their plans of staging the SEA Games, armed by the goal of delivering an elevated sporting event. This promise of staging more games and presenting a grander scale was reiterated in SPIA Asia 2018 by PHISGOC.

“ Finally, we all saw this promise fulfilled this year during the breathtaking opening ceremony of the 30th SEA Games.”

The awards followed a two-day sports industry conference at which Cayetano, Ronaldo and Moses were also speakers, and which was attended by more than 600 delegates and 60 speakers altogether.

For the first time this year, the awards included categories for Asian sportspeople. Manny Pacquiao won Best Asian Sportsman of the Year, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka won Best Asian Sportswoman of the Year, and the Japanese national rugby union team won Best Asian Sports Team of the Year.

The full list of awards winners at SPIA Asia 2019 was as follows:

Sports Business Awards
Best eSports Event of the Year in Asia
Gold award winner: The Chongqing Major, China
Silver award winner: MET Asia Series: PUBG Classic, Thailand
Bronze award winner: StarSeries i-League CS:GO, Season 7, China

Best Brand Activation of the Year
Gold: Shopee & Cristiano Ronaldo by SportQuake, Singapore 
Silver: NBA Playoffs-Finals #NeverMiss Campaign by NBA Philippines, Inc
Bronze: AIA China, Tottenham Hotspur ICC Tour 2019 by AIA China

Best Use of Technology in Sports
Gold: Atrium Sports, Kilsyth Basketball Connected Stadium, Australia
Silver: MICE & Communication Photo Search System, Thailand
Bronze: Dhiraagu Maldives Road Race 2018 and 2019

Best International Sporting Event of the Year
Gold: Rugby World Cup 2019, Japan by World Rugby/Rugby World Cup Limited
Silver: Formula 1 Rolex Australia Grand Prix 2019, Australian Grand Prix Corporation 2019
Bronze: AFC Asian Cup, Lagardère Sports, Singapore

Best Sports Digital Platform of the Year
Gold: Rugby World Cup, Japan 2019 Digital Platform by Rugby World Cup Limited
Silver: Goal by DAZN Media, Singapore 
Bronze: JustRunLah!, Singapore

Best Sponsorship of a Sport, Team, Individual or Event in Asia ($500,000 and above)
Gold: HSBC Hong Kong 7s by China HSBC
Silver: Shopee & Cristiano Ronaldo by SportQuake, Singapore
Bronze: QNET with Manchester City Football Club, Malaysia

Best Integrated Marketing Campaign of the Year
Gold: WTA Finals 2018, Lagardère Sports, Singapore
Silver: SINA SPORTS Sina 3X3 Golden League by Sina Sports, China
Bronze: Bundesliga Experience Thailand with Oliver Kahn - Bundesliga International

Best Sports CSR Initiative of the Year
Gold: AIA Soccer for the Nation, AIA Insurance Indonesia
Silver: 'Run With Me 2019' by Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc. (Resorts World Manila), Philippines 
Bronze: Table Tennis for NepALL by ITTF Foundation, Nepal

Best Sports Marketing Agency of the Year
Gold: Lagardère Sports, Singapore
Silver: Endeavor, Singapore
Bronze: Mailman, China

Best Sport Youth Development Program of the Year
Gold: Saudi Telecom Company (STC), Eish Al Tahady, Youth Development Program 
Silver: AIFF Youth League System, All India Football Federation
Bronze: Allianz Junior Football Camp Malaysia, Malaysia Berhad

Best Influencer Marketing Campaign of the Year
Gold: Hola LaLiga Santander Unboxing Campaign - Spain - Liga Nacional de Futbol Profesional
Silver: Shopee & Cristiano - Singapore - SportQuake
Bronze: Manchester United Red Devil Messenger - Hong Kong, China - by Manchester United Football Club Limited

Best Sport Tourism Destination Campaign of the Year
Gold: #unitedinperth, VenuesLive/Optus Stadium, Perth, Australia
Silver: IT’S MORE FUN~TASTIC IN SUBIC!, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Philippines 
Bronze: KING OF NINE LIMBS, World Lethwei Championship

Best Fan Engagement Campaign of the Year
Gold: TECNO Race to Manchester City by City Football Group, India
Silver: Oppo Billion Beats, ITW Playworx Pvt Ltd, India
Bronze: HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens, Singapore Sports Hub

Best Amateur Sports Event of the Year
Gold: Sina 3X3 Golden League by Sina Sports, China
Silver: Saudi Telecom Company, Eish Al Tahady, Amateur Sports Program - Saudi Arabia
Bronze: GoSportz Sdn Bhd

Best Mass Participation Event of the Year - presented by Mass Participation World
Gold: Tokyo - Japan Marathon
Silver: Singapore Marathon
Bronze: Ironman 70.3 Asia Pacific Championships, Vietnam

Philippine Categories
Best Mass Participation Event in Philippines
Gold: National Milo Marathon - by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
Silver: Cebu Marathon - by Cebu Executive Runners Club
Bronze: Manila - by Proactive Sports

Best Sponsorship of Sport, Team, Individual, Venue or Event in Philippines
Gold: Honda Philippines Nationwide Tour - by Honda Philippines
Silver: SBMA Sponsorship of Sport - by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority
Bronze: PRUride PH - by Pru Life UK

Best Youth Sports Development Program in Philippines
Gold: Football 7s Youth Program - by Football 7s
Silver: Allianz National Youth Futsal Invitational - by Allianz PNB Life Insurance
Bronze: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for the deaf - by CLUBE DE JIU-JITSU FILIPINAS

Sportspeople/Team Awards
Best Asian Sportsman of the Year - Emmanuel Pacquiao, Philippines
Best Asian Sportswoman of the Year - Naomi Osaka, Japan
Best Asian Sports Team of the Year - Japan rugby union team

For more information go to spiaasia.com/2019-winners

Images: Attendees at the SPIA Asia 2019 Awards, with Ronaldo Nazario de Lima - third from right; and Olympic gold medal-winning American runner Dr. Edwin Moses - second from right (top, courtesy of SPIA Asia/MMC Sportz Marketing) and the Tokyo Marathon (below).