Organised by Sport360 and presented by Cadillac, the event will honour the hard work of leaders, decision makers, organisations and facilities as well as celebrate the campaigns which have contributed to the development of regional sport in the last 12 months.
The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on Wednesday, March 23, at the JW Marriott Marquis in Dubai, which is expected to be attended by more than 600 guests from the sports industry.
For the first time, two new categories will be recognised – Youth Sports Agency or Organisation of the Year and Sports Brand, Retail or Product Activation of the Year.
Awards also include the Best Sport Event Amateur, Best Use of Social Media in Sport and Youth Development Project of the Year.
Last year saw 175 entries received from the GCC countries, but with the scope ever widening, the 2016 edition will encompass all nations in the Middle East, including Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
“We are delighted and honoured to host a new edition of the Sports Industry Awards this March,” said Didier Brun, publisher and deputy CEO of Sport360. “Now in its fourth year, the SPIAs has become a roaring success thanks to an ever-growing number of entries and participants, and has established itself as the industry’s key annual ‘rendezvous’.
“But more importantly, the true measure of its success is the impact it has had for sports as a whole in the region, its events, spectators, players and athletes, as learnings have been drawn and new benchmarks have been set by previous winners. We have seen SPIA competitors raise their game as they aspire to win gold, trying to reach these benchmarks, improve the way they do business and service their customers as well as fine-tune their strategies.”
He added: “The Sports Industry Awards’ ultimate objective is to incentivise companies to innovate and create products and services that will benefit all sports fans in the region and help the industry grow as a whole. This year we have added two new categories, Youth Sports Agency or Organisation of the Year and Sports Brand, Retail or Product Activation of the Year, to keep track of the ever changing landscape of the sporting world in the Middle East.
“Sport360 is very keen to honour the leading youth organisations, as we continuously stress the importance of creating healthy lifestyles for kids in the region.”
The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, February 23 and each entry will be reviewed by a judging panel of 18 of the region’s experts, with the process independently audited by Deloitte and Touche.
The shortlisted finalists will be revealed at a press conference next month. To enter visit www.spia.ae .
