Best Sports Event of the Year
British Cycling – 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was undoubtedly one of the biggest and most successful sporting events of 2016 in the UK.
With passion for cycling in the UK greater than ever before, British Cycling aims to deliver world class cycling events, not only to cater for current demand but to inspire the next generation of cyclists and cycling fans. With over 50,000 tickets sold and nine medals won by the Great Britain Cycling Team, this event delivered that and more.
Medals were awarded across all five days of competition with seven sessions instead of the usual five, maximising the opportunity for spectators to see medals decided, with innovative ticket pricing strategies ensuring that the event was as open and affordable to as many cycling fans as possible.
EA SPORTS – EA SPORTS FIFA 17 Launch
The annual release of EA SPORTS FIFA is now a fixture on the entertainment calendar. This year, EA SPORTS took the launch a step further by taking over The London Stadium, the new home of West Ham United, to celebrate the stadium’s inclusion in FIFA 17.
The FIFA 17 UK launch event harnessed the frenzy of interest amongst talent, influencers, media and consumers to create a live spectacle for millions at home whilst delivering a series of unique content opportunities for attendees.
Premier League footballers paired up with the biggest football YouTubers in the country to step on to the London Stadium pitch and go head-to-head in 2 v 2 FIFA 17 matches. As the players battled it out under the floodlights, The SPORTbible broadcast to millions via Facebook Live whilst a guest list made up of 150 talent, influencers, media and club partners published content to their audiences.
Harlequins – Harlequins Big Game 9
Harlequins is a rugby club based at The Stoop, a 14,800 capacity stadium in South West London. Each year they move their Christmas fixture to the Home of Rugby, Twickenham Stadium, for their annual Big Game.
Celebrating their 150th anniversary season, this year’s match, the ninth of its kind, was one of the Club’s headline events. In 2016 it had its most successful year to date with a total ticket revenue equivalent of 12 regular home matches.
With 77,567 supporters packed into Twickenham Stadium to see them edge Gloucester, Harlequins recorded the largest sporting attendance in Europe that week, and a staggering 484% increase on their 13,287 average home attendance. Millions more were reached in the national newspapers, via international television broadcast and online through an innovative social media campaign.
Big Game prides itself on being about more than just the rugby. 8,656 tickets were sold to local clubs and schools, while 577 junior supporters had the privilege to play pre-match at the Home of Rugby. Additionally £80,000 was raised on the day for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and The Harlequins Foundation.
In their sesquicentennial year, Big Game 9 truly became Harlequin’s biggest ever game.
ONE Championship
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia featuring the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship is broadcast to over 1 billion viewers across 118+ countries around the world with some of the largest global broadcasters, including FOX Sports, Setanta, MNC, Astro, Thairath TV, ABS-CBN, TV5, MYTV, HTV, OSN and more.
Premiership Rugby – Aviva Premiership Rugby Final 2016
The Aviva Premiership Rugby Final is Britain’s biggest, most prestigious and eagerly-anticipated game in the domestic rugby calendar. In 2016, Twickenham Stadium played host to a sensational day of high-class rugby and a true celebration of the game. Following 135 games contested by the 12 best team in English rugby, the 2016 Final saw the league’s finest battle in front one of the biggest crowds to date with 76,109 in attendance, an average audience of over 192,000 in the UK and available to view in over 140 countries, in over 90 million households.
The ambition for the 2016 Final was to provide the best event experience on and off pitch, engaging fans in the stadium and around the world regardless of their team affiliation – targeting the neutral supporter and driving new fans to the season’s climax on the back of rugby’s celebration of the game in England in 2015. The Final also showcased Premiership Rugby’s long-standing commitment to grassroots rugby through our community programmes and with the support of our commercial partners allowed them to take centre stage at the Final, with hundreds of young players sampling the atmosphere, many being able to play on the hallowed turf.
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