Continuing from last year's success at the Sports Industry Awards, a total of 191 entries were registered across the 13 categories with 48 submissions from outside the UAE, a testament of the regional growth of the awards. Here is a list of the winners:
BEST INTEGRATED SPORTS MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Gold – Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship (Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority / IMG)
Faisal Al Sheikh – Director of Events Bureau, ADTCA. I believe it’s a well-deserved award. This was the 10th edition of the championship and the participation of the world’s top players undoubtedly gave it a lot of importance and prestige. The accumulated experience from hosting this event for 10 years helped us reach such results.
Thanks to the support of HSBC and our partnership with the European Tour as well as the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, it was a group effort to realise one common vision to make it one of the best competitions in the world.
I think our marketing campaign was great in that we didn’t just focus on the game itself, but we offered so many activities for spectators at the club. The tournament village was incredible and attracted everyone. We also had a Red Day, where we gave free entry to anyone wearing red. So all that led to us winning this award.
BEST SPORTS RETAIL EXPERIENCE
Gold – Adventure HQ
Silver – Adidas Retail Outlets & Franchise Stores
Silver – Nike Women (Sun & Sand Sports)
Sam Whittam – CEO and Founder, Adventure HQ. It’s the third year in a row that we’ve won the best sport retail outlet. We’re very proud of what we’ve done, we love what we do, and it’s a great honour to win this award again. We care about our customers, we care about our people – inside and outside the business – and we’re trying to be a part of a culture and a lifestyle shift rather than just sell product and I think that’s what sets us apart.
We’ve been open since 2012 and I’d like to think we’ve had a positive influence in bringing about that shift in people’s lifestyles. But globally, outdoor activities are becoming a lot more prevalent. For us, it was a combination of right time, right place, right concept… we truly believe that you get out what you put in. We practice what we preach and we live it.
BEST USE OF PR IN SPORT
Gold – Winner Stays DXB (Sun & Sand Sports)
Silver – Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship (Four Communications / IMG)
Bronze – Abu Dhabi International Triathlon (Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority / Fast Track)
Roy Nasrallah – Head of Marketing, Middle East, Nike. It’s always great to win. We’re so excited. Winner Stays was a great experience for us, especially in a football World Cup year. Last year, we decided to ‘activate’ the city.
We went to the neighbourhoods in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai, we connected with our consumer. We reached the best athletes and we ultimately gathered the best eight teams under Burj Khalifa and it was a night to remember. We built a stadium and it was an amazing experience for everyone.
The region is witnessing a new fitness culture and Nike is in the heart of it. We continue to power this movement through our products and innovations.
INDOOR SPORT & RECREATION FACILITY OF THE YEAR
Gold – Bounce
Silver – Adventure HQ
Bronze – Zayed Sports City
Ross Milton – Managing Director, Bounce. Awesome, ecstatic, wonderful achievement. We wanted to take the country by storm and create a great atmosphere for kids, teenagers, young adults, to just have a great time, to be able to express themselves to do something different.
It’s well exceeded our expectations. We love just getting out there, showing people a good time and seeing a smile on people’s faces. The SPIAs concept is very energising to start with. It’s such a great group of people, it’s what we’re all about – sports, community… it’s a great thing to be a part of.
NEW SPORTING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Gold – TIMA Sports Apparel (TIMA Love Life)
Silver – Nike Magista (Sun & Sands Sports)
Bronze – The Watt Bike (800 Sport by Raymond)
Fatima Batook – Owner, TIMA. We didn’t expect it at all. After hearing bronze and silver we were like ‘let’s go home’ and then they said ‘gold TIMA’ and I’m like ‘What?’. It was really surprising. Last year we were nominated alongside big brands like Nike, Adidas and Giant and we didn’t win. It’s really overwhelmingly and amazing. First of all I think it’s all about passion and love. We have Rasha as the brand manager and Jennifer and Eva as our two brand ambassadors and they are amazing. We just share the love of empowering women and it being the first-ever Arab brand for sport apparel that understands the women here in this region, with their bodies, their needs and their aspirations – this is what we stand for.
BEST SPORT EVENT (AMATEUR)
Gold – The Color Run (IMG Middle East)
Silver – We RUN DXB (Sun & Sand Sports)
Bronze – Tri Yas (Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management)
Greg Sproule – Managing Director, IMG Middle East. The line saying ‘The Happiest 5k on the planet’ is really true. Even from an organisational point of view, it’s so much fun to put on an event like this. It’s about getting of the sofa, getting some exercise with family and friends. It’s not a timed event, it’s just about having a great time. It’s about getting that selfie, having some fun and celebrating your 5k at the end.
The ActiveLife guys and our friends at Daman are phenomenal and for Daman to bring on Dame Kelly Holmes and Omar Nour – who is such a champion of fitness in the community – is superb. One of the things that makes it so interesting from our point of view is the power of social media. We’ve got a great following on social media, Instagram, Facebook in particular. So much of our marketing is through Facebook. It’s amazing to see social media help a sports event like that.
YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROJECT OF THE YEAR
Gold – Spanish Soccer Schools (Dubai Sports City)
Silver – ADIB Future Champions League (ADIB / IMG)
Bronze – Emirates American Football League (EAFL Events)
Inaki Beni – Football Academy Manager, Dubai Sports City. I think we have to really congratulate the entire team, especially Michel Salgado who couldn’t make it tonight. This is for him, because of the way he believed in the project, as well as Khalid Al Zarooni (DSC president), who believed in it as well and started it. We’re really a development project, that’s what we’re trying to do. I think we can make a real change in football here.