The 2021 European Sponsorship Awards ceremony was staged via YouTube Live on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 February, with viewers from across Europe and globally tuning in to find out which campaigns would take home the prestigious awards.

Ireland is a traditional strong performer at the Awards having taken home the main prize in each of the last four years for An Post, Electric Ireland twice and Lidl.

In this year’s Awards, Vodafone Ireland took Silver in the Best of Europe category for the Team of Us partnership with Irish Rugby.

We also landed The Best Ethical Response to Covid-19 with the Electric Ireland Sunrise Appeal; the Best Use of Insights for Energia – The Power Behind Irish Rugby with The Brand Fans; and Best Media Sponsorship for SuperValu’s Inspired Cooking Series.

There were also a host of Highly Commended Awards in what is always a highly competitive arena drawing entries from across Europe.

Among these ‘coming home’ are Energia’s Get Ireland Growing Campaign for Purpose-led sponsorship in Cause; the 20×20 Campaign with AIG, Investec, KPMG, Lidl and Three in the Purpose-led Category for Sport; Energia again for The Power Behind Irish Rugby in the Sport Category and The VHI Women’s Mini Marathon for Best Use of Virtual Experiences for Participation.

The prestigious ESA Sponsorship of the Year, awarded to the most impressive campaign from among all categories, was won by Old El Paso for its #MessFreeChallenge, which also won Best Use of Digital Channels.

In another first for the ESA Awards, Paris Saint-Germain and Transport for London were jointly awarded the Rights Holder of the Year prize, after the judging panel was unable to separate the two entries.

PSG also triumphed in the ‘Best Newcomer’ category for its partnership with SUPERCELL, making it one of three entrants to take home multiple categories in 2021. Secret Sofa from Secret Cinema, presented by Häagen-Dazs, won both the Best Use of Virtual Experiences – Participation and Arts and Culture Sponsorship prizes, with Virgin Money’s ‘Unity Arena’ collecting the Music Sponsorship and Best Use of PR trophies.

The Sports Sponsorship >€5M category, sponsored by dataPOWA, was won by NatWest Cricket. Companies honoured at the ceremony included BMW, Cadbury, Carslberg, England Rugby, FedEx, Heineken, Jeep, Liverpool FC, O2, UEFA, the United Nations and Vodafone.

“Every year the ESA Awards grows bigger and better, and this year is no exception,” said ESA Chair Andy Westlake.

“The 2021 ESA Awards attracted a record number of fantastic entries from more nations than ever before in spite of the historically challenging circumstances facing the European sponsorship community, and we are so pleased to be able to celebrate the resilience and creativity of our brilliant industry.”

“2020 was an unprecedented year for the sports and entertainment community. The incredibly high standard of winning campaigns is a testament to our community’s resilience and durability and shows that the sponsorship industry is set to bounce back stronger than ever. A huge congratulations to all our winners – we look forward to celebrating again in person in 2022.”

Sport for Business Partners