The European Sponsorship Association (ESA) has launched the 2024 ESA Awards with a refreshed programme designed to recognise the full panorama of sponsorship excellence.
Europe’s most sought-after sponsorship prizes will again be up for grabs at The Brewery in London on Thursday, 7 March 2024 – entries are open until Friday 20 October with early-bird discounts available until Friday 29 September.
The 2024 ESA Awards ceremony will also feature the second inauguration of the ESA Fellowship, introduced in 2023 to honour leaders who have made an outstanding contribution to the sponsorship industry. One of the hallmarks of the ESA Awards, as highlighted by regular entrants, is the high standard of judging. Senior sponsorship and marketing professionals are invited to apply today to be part of the 2024 ESA Awards judging panel, which in 2023 year consisted of 79 judges from 10 European countries.
Recognising the importance of staying aligned with industry trends, the ESA Awards Committee has split the highly coveted Best Use of ESG and Purpose-led Sponsorship category into two new categories:
Environmentally Sustainable Sponsorship
Sponsorship with a Social Purpose
ESA has also revamped its Rights Holder of the Year award for 2024.
“A full house of 450 savoured and celebrated the incredible diversity of our industry at the 2023 ESA Awards, and we can’t wait to see what the best of European sponsorship has to offer in 2024,” said Awards Chair Andy Westlake.
“The ESA Awards goes from strength to strength as the continent’s premier sponsorship gathering. As well as category winners and ESA Fellows earning well-deserved recognition, it’s a brilliant opportunity for networking.
“Sponsorship is a very powerful component of the marketing mix and I encourage anyone who is proud of their achievements this year to enter the ESA Awards. There is a fantastic range of categories and the judging is world-renowned.”
Those entering the 2024 ESA Awards will be asked to submit a 250-word elevator pitch and either a 10-minute video presentation or a 2,000-word written entry.
“Every year we think the quality of entries to the ESA Awards couldn’t get much higher and yet we are
continually surprised and delighted by the spellbinding standard,” added Chair of the Judging Panel Matthew Leopold.
“Sometimes there are simply too many deserving winners applying for the same prize and we hope that the new categories recognising environmental sustainability and social purpose will reflect what the industry is telling us are the very cornerstones of their partnerships.”
“This year has seen renewed growth in women’s sport and I’m sure we will see this reflected in the 2024 ESA Awards entries. We’re excited to see what the sponsorship community will come up with and I urge anyone with extensive experience who is passionate about our industry to apply to the judging panel.”
Entry for the Awards can be made here.
Irish campaigns won no fewer than 17 awards at the 2023 Awards including a hat trick for Sky Ireland and the FAI.
Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business was a judge of the prestigious Best of Europe Awards which was won by eBay for its work in grassroots football in England.
