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The Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, Hong Kong’s Rugby Sevens, BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore and AFC’s 'Football For All Vietnam' were among the big winners in the inaugural Sports Industry Awards & Conference (SPIA Asia) along with local powerhouses Mall of Asia Arena and ABS-CBN which held the flag flying high for the Philippines.

On a glittering gala night in Manila’s New World Makati Hotel, the region’s sport industry leaders were present as winners were honoured in 10 different categories.

Jose Cojunanco, President of the Philippines Olympic Committee and Ricardo Garcia, Chairman of the Philippines Sports Commission were both in attendance at the Awards, with both welcoming the initiative as extremely valuable for the development in sports not only in the region but also in the Philippines.

Garcia stated “we are happy to be able to host such a prestigious event in Manila and to be able to bringing the industry expert together to showcase the developments we have made here in the Philippines not only within basketball and football but also leading up to the 2019 SEA Games hosted in our country.”

SPIA Asia, organised by MMC Sportz and Sport360 and sanctioned by the Philippines Sports Commission and the Philippines Olympic Committee is now set to become an annual event in Asia with now also adding China, japan and Korea to the list of eligible countries.

168 entries were received from 12 countries, which were up for voting by a panel of judges, comprising sports experts and consultants from a range of leading South East Asian agencies, brands and governing bodies.

Following the success of the Middle East version of SPIA, the awards were established in recognition of those working behind the scenes to create events that left an unforgettable impression on the fans, or brought about a positive change in the development of sports and the sporting community.

Multiple category winners included Lagadère Sports – organisers of the WTA Finals Singapore and AFF Suzuki Cup – who won a gold and silver in the Best Live Experience at a Sport Event, while Hong Kong Rugby Sevens also walked away with a silver in the same category.

Football For All Vietnam, a community program by Football Association Norway and Asian Football Confederation (AFC), won the Gold in Best Sports Youth Program and Silvers in Best Sports CSR Initiative and Best Sports Participation/Amateur Event.

Standard Chartered Marathon, organised by Spectrum Worldwide won a Gold in Best Sports Participation/Amateur Event and a Silver in Use of Social Media in Sports. The Gold in the latter category was won by Liverpool Football Club and Garuda Indonesia for their #MyFirstLFCGame campaign.

The Mall of Asia Arena, represented by the Shoemart Group won gold in the category for ‘Best Sports Facility of the Year’ followed in close second by the Philippine Arena while ABS-CBN bagged gold in the category of ‘Best Sports Digital Platform’ for their “Isang Bayan Para Kay Pacman” campaign.

More local glory went to The Bike Doctors and Toby’s Youth Sports Foundation in the ‘Best Sports CSR Campaign’ while Carat won a gold award for ‘Puso de Max’ in the ‘Best Sports Marketing Campaign’ category.

The 2015 awards gala, which saw a full house of 320 guests attending the function, was preceded by an informative conference – ‘The Business of Sport – South East Asian Sports Industry in the Fast Lane’ – in the morning which was attended by over 150 invited delegates.

The Business of Sports conference brought valuable insights about the sponsorship market, the social media consumption and new technologies used within governing bodies while the Philippines Sports commission and the Philippines Football Federation presented the overview of sports in the Philippines and the launch of the upcoming professional football league.

Singha Corporation, who were among the main sponsors for the SPIA Asia, were recognized and honoured for their sensitivity to the environment and their remarkable global marketing strategy involving sports.

The green initiative project of Singha that found the favour of a panel comprising judges and organisers was the Singha Park Khon Kaen Golf Club and the sustainable use of water from their adjacent brewery.

Sport360 Deputy Chief Executive and Publisher of Sport360, Didier Brun stated “we could not have been more delighted with the manner in which the event was received.

“The fact that we got 168 entries in the 10 categories, and that too without making too much noise about it, is fantastic, and then the support and feedback we have got from everyone just goes on to strengthen our belief that there is a crying need for something like the SPIA’s in this region.”

MMC Sportz Chief Executive Eric Gottschalk added “wat we managed to achieve with the inaugural SPIA Asia is incredible, especially looking at the high objectives we had set for the event.

“Firstly we wanted to create a credible platform to unite and recognize the Asian sports industry and, secondly, we to bring the sports industry experts to new markets to discuss local issues and to find global (and) local solutions to support the development of sports.

“In both, I feel we succeeded.

“Our fantastic panel of local and regional judges for the awards and speakers for the conference have contributed to the success of the conference and the credibility of the awards and to have Presidents of both Philippines Sports Commission and the Philippines Olympic Committee attending the sports conference and the awards night along with several other important dignitaries, just shows how much the host country has valued the SPIA Asia event.”

The inaugural Asia SPIAs was supported by the Philippines Sports Commission and the Philippines Olympic Committee, and sponsored by Singha Corporation, Philippines Airlines, Emperador Distillers, RSportz, New World Makati Hotel, Primer Group of Companies, Dubai Sports City and Azares Glass. Media Partners included the International New York Times, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Global Sports Jobs, ASN and co-presenter Fox Sports.

Sport or Recreation Facility of the Year
• Gold: Mall of Asia Arena, Philippines 
• Silver: Philippine Arena, Philippines 

Best Sports Retail Campaign
• Gold: NBA Asia, Hong Kong 
• Silver: Columbia Sportswear, Philippines 
• Bronze: Chris Sports, Philippines 

Best Sports Digital Platform
• Gold: Isang Bayan Para Kay Pacman by ABS-CBN, Philippines 
• Silver: Sports Flow by Samsung, Singapore 

Best Sports Youth Program
• Gold: Football For All Vietnam by Football Association Norway/AFC Vietnam 
• Silver: NBA Asia, Hong Kong 
• Bronze: Nutrition Action Champion by Alaska Milk Corporation, Philippines 

Best Sports Agency or Organisation
• Gold: XLE Group, Vietnam 
• Silver: Sunrise Events, Philippines 
• Bronze: Hong Kong Ultra Marathon Association Limited, Hong Kong 

Use of Social Media in Sports
• Gold: #MyFirstLFCGame by Liverpool FC & Garuda Indonesia
• Silver: Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore by Spectrum Worldwide, Singapore 
• Bronze: Fox Sports Asia by Fox Sports Asia & We are Social, Singapore 

Best Sports CSR Initiative
• Gold: Bike Doctors by Primer Group, Philippines 
• Silver: The AFC Village by Asian Football Confederation, Malaysia 
• Bronze: Toby’s Youth Sports Foundation by Toby’s Sports, Philippines 

Best Sports Participation/Amateur Event
• Gold: Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore by Spectrum Worldwide, Singapore 
• Silver: Football For All Vietnam by Football Association Norway/AFC Vietnam 
• Bronze: Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines by Sunrise Events, Philippines 

Best Sports Marketing Campaign
• Gold: Puso the Max by Max Restaurants & Carat, Philippines 
• Silver: #MyFirstLFCGame by Liverpool FC & Garuda Indonesia
• Bronze: UFC Manila by SM Lifestyle Ent., Philippines 

Best Live Experience at a Sport Event
• Gold: BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore by Lagadère Sports, Singapore 
• Silver: AFF Suzuki Cup by Lagadère Sports, Singapore/Vietnam 
• Silver: Hong Kong Rugby Sevess, Hong Kong 

For more information go to www.aisaawards.com

Images: WTA Finals Singapore (top), Standard Chartered Marathon SIngapore (middle) and the Hong Kong Sevens (below).

1st October 2015 - LAGARDÈRE SPORTS UNVEILS NEW GLOBAL MEDIA TEAM

17th September 2015 - SPORTS INDUSTRY AWARDS PROGRAM EXPANDS FROM MIDDLE EAST TO ENCOMPASS SOUTH EAST ASIA

21st March 2015 - HONG KONG RUGBY SEVENS TICKETS IN HIGH DEMAND

2nd July 2014 - CATHEDRAL FOR THE MODERN AGE OPENS IN MANILA

8th April 2014 - MIDDLE EAST SPORT INDUSTRY AWARDS CONTINUE TO RECOGNISE EXCELLENCE IN FITNESS AND SPORT

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