Huge congratulations to the 2021 nominees and winners!
2021 WINNERSSee you next year!
The Sports Business Awards recognise and reward achievement by the teams behind the scenes that facilitate sporting excellence and endeavours. We salute and champion their resilience, adaptability and resourcefulness, in particular, that shown over this last year.
Why the Sports Business Awards?
Celebrate with your team
Being an award-winner is a powerful motivator to inspire you and your colleagues to keep up the great work!
Enhance your reputation
Appending an independently judged third-party badge of excellence is a sure-fire shortcut to emphasising your merit to colleagues, clients, bosses & stakeholders.
Generate positive headlines
Spread the good news - everyone loves a success story and winning an award is a great publicity hook for social and traditional media efforts
Aspire to Better Practice
Winner or not - seeing what others do for their products is an irreplacable source of tried & tested award-worthy ideas!
Our 2021 Judges
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Keith Pelley
Chief Executive, European Tour
Keith Pelley
Chief Executive, European TourCanadian Keith Pelley became the fourth Chief Executive in the history of the European Tour on Monday August 3, 2015.
During his tenure, Keith has overseen a period of significant evolution and modernisation underlined by the Tour’s brand refresh, which uses the strapline Driving Golf Further, emphasising the Tour’s guiding principles of being innovative, inclusive and global. This has included the creation of award-winning content, pioneering formats such as GolfSixes and the Hero Challenge, and the use of the latest technology and inventive fan engagement, including the launch of golf’s first esports series, the European eTour. Keith has also overseen a closer collaboration with the women’s game, including co-sanctioned events such as the Scandinavia Mixed and Vic Open, and the introduction of the ground-breaking Golfers with Disability programme in conjunction with the European Disabled Golf Association (EDGA), which he is a board member of.
In 2017, the European Tour introduced the transformational Rolex Series, the premium event category on the European Tour’s International Schedule, comprising four tournaments staged in a variety of world-class golfing locations around the world, each with a minimum prize fund of US$7 million. It has been described as one of the most important initiatives in the Tour’s history.
In November 2020, a Strategic Alliance was announced between the European Tour and the PGA TOUR, with the latter taking minority investment in European Tour Productions. The landmark agreement will see golf’s two major Tours explore all facets of collaboration, working together on strategic commercial opportunities including collaborating on global media rights in certain territories plus global scheduling, prize funds and playing opportunities for the respective memberships.
The European Tour also manages the developmental Challenge Tour and the Legends Tour, formerly the Senior Tour which secured Staysure as the first title partner in its history in 2018. It is also the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe the body which, alongside the PGA of America, administers golf’s greatest team contest, The Ryder Cup, with the 2018 edition at Le Golf National the most successful to be held on European soil.
Prior to joining The European Tour, Keith was President of Rogers Media in Toronto where he was responsible for leading the overall operations of the company’s diverse portfolio, including Television, Radio, Publishing, Digital Media, The Shopping Channel, subscription-based content services, Toronto Blue Jays, and Rogers Centre. Before that, he was Executive Vice-President of Strategic Planning at CTVglobemedia, President of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium – which won a record seven awards for its coverage of Vancouver 2010 – President and CEO of the Toronto Argonauts Football Club, and President of The Sports Network in Canada, a company he first joined as an Editorial Assistant in 1986.
He is a graduate of Ryerson University with a BA in Radio and Television Arts, and also received an ATCL diploma from Trinity College in London
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Adrian Christy
Former Chief Executive, Badminton England
Adrian Christy
Former Chief Executive, Badminton EnglandAdrian has been Chief Executive of Badminton England since 2006 and is leading the organisation through a vision for badminton to be one of the nation’s most popular sports and to consistently win World, Olympic and Paralympic medals.
Adrian is driving a journey of modernisation and self-sustainability at Badminton England, transforming the business through technology, customer acquisition, fan engagement and organisational efficiency. He is a bold, recognised and innovative leader with proven achievement; someone who makes things happen and leads by example.
Under Adrian’s leadership, Badminton England has secured the greatest level of commercial investment in the history of the organisation, seen the Yonex All England Open Championships be included among the three badminton ‘Majors’ on the World Tour, demonstrated great vision and creativity through the launch of the first professional badminton league in the UK.
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Charlie Wylie
Managing Partner, EMEA, MKTG Sports + Entertainment
Charlie Wylie
Managing Partner, EMEA, MKTG Sports + EntertainmentCharlie is Managing Partner of Sport & Entertainment at MKTG, an industry leading lifestyle marketing agency.
Charlie is a partnership and brand engagement expert with years of experience in building, managing and delivering integrated partnership and sponsorship solutions for clients. Recently he has focused on creating large scale global partnerships for FMCG and B2B brands, helping to deliver game-changing business value for brands through sport.
Outside of work Charlie is a huge sport fan and has become an expert in up-selling his former sporting glories. When not juggling work and family life he’s often to be found on a boat, or a bike or doing some form of adventure challenge.
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Louise Johnson
CEO Fuse EMEA
Louise Johnson
CEO Fuse EMEALouise is CEO of Fuse, a leading marketing agency within Omnicom Media Group specialising in partnerships and experiences across sport and entertainment.
At Fuse, Louise has tripled the agency to a team of 250 across EMEA and APAC, servicing 10 of the top 30 brands in the world. The agency is currently retained by Google, Nissan, PepsiCo, HSBC, Vodafone, Royal London and Carlsberg. Fuse has negotiated over $1.1B worth of rights in the past six years for clients across the biggest platforms in the world. As a result, Fuse is becoming one of the largest and most respected agencies in the sports and entertainment marketing industry and beyond. Louise was named one of the Sports Leaders Under 40 class of 2018, on Ad Age’s Women to Watch Europe 2019, was highly commended in Management Today’s Inspiring Women in Business Awards 2020 and was included on the IPA inaugural 2020 iList of diversity and inclusion trailblazers.
Louise sits on multiple boards including Omnicom Media Group UK’s Board and the Diversity & Inclusivity Steering Committee, Omnicom’s Open Disability Committee, and a member of the purpose marketing organisation One Hundred. Louise is an active member of WACL (Women in Advertising & Communications London).
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Debbie Jevans CBE
Senior Independent Director, English Football League
Debbie Jevans CBE
Senior Independent Director, English Football LeagueDebbie has been at a leading figure in sports management and administration for over 30 years. She was the first female in Olympic history to be appointed as the Director of Sport for an Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and also the first female to be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of a Rugby World Cup.
Debbie is Vice Chair for Sport England and leads its Workforce Committee which is responsible for overseeing the UK’s strategy for coaching, volunteering and careers in sport and is a Trustee of the Invictus Games Foundation (which was established by Prince Harry to organise international sports competitions for wounded, injured and sick service personnel).
Formerly a professional tennis player, Debbie represented her country and competed at all four Grand Slams before turning to an administrative career in the sporting arena becoming General Secretary of the International Tennis Federation where she developed the sport’s first anti-doping programme and oversaw the return of tennis as an Olympic sport.Previously voted the most influential female in British sport, Debbie was awarded a CBE in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List in recognition for her services to sport and the London 2012 Games and was awarded the Olympic Order by the IOC in the same year.
Our 2021 Judges
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Adrian Christy
Former Chief Executive, Badminton England
Adrian Christy
Former Chief Executive, Badminton EnglandAdrian has been Chief Executive of Badminton England since 2006 and is leading the organisation through a vision for badminton to be one of the nation’s most popular sports and to consistently win World, Olympic and Paralympic medals.
Adrian is driving a journey of modernisation and self-sustainability at Badminton England, transforming the business through technology, customer acquisition, fan engagement and organisational efficiency. He is a bold, recognised and innovative leader with proven achievement; someone who makes things happen and leads by example.
Under Adrian’s leadership, Badminton England has secured the greatest level of commercial investment in the history of the organisation, seen the Yonex All England Open Championships be included among the three badminton ‘Majors’ on the World Tour, demonstrated great vision and creativity through the launch of the first professional badminton league in the UK.
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Charlie Wylie
Managing Partner, EMEA, MKTG Sports + Entertainment
Charlie Wylie
Managing Partner, EMEA, MKTG Sports + EntertainmentCharlie is Managing Partner of Sport & Entertainment at MKTG, an industry leading lifestyle marketing agency.
Charlie is a partnership and brand engagement expert with years of experience in building, managing and delivering integrated partnership and sponsorship solutions for clients. Recently he has focused on creating large scale global partnerships for FMCG and B2B brands, helping to deliver game-changing business value for brands through sport.
Outside of work Charlie is a huge sport fan and has become an expert in up-selling his former sporting glories. When not juggling work and family life he’s often to be found on a boat, or a bike or doing some form of adventure challenge.
