The Hollard Sport Industry Awards is looking forward to its first event with a broader continental audience.
The 2021 Hollard Sport Industry Awards – which celebrates the teams behind the teams and the innovators within the business of sport – is the first to open up to submissions from across the African continent.
“We are thrilled to broaden the reach of these awards in order to celebrate the standout talent throughout our beautifully creative continent. These awards recognise those multinational and independent agencies that have worked differently during the Covid-19 pandemic to make a difference, and that have set new standards for the business of sport in doing so. These are individuals and teams who have got behind the teams and in so doing, have helped African sport to endure, helped bring citizens together in countries across the continent, and played their part in creating better futures,” says Heidi Brauer, Chief Marketing Officer of Hollard.
Samuel Fadele, Head of Games, Strategy and Planning for Nigeria’s Olympic Committee, is one of the judges representing the broader continent this year. He says that he is looking forward to reviewing organisations and individuals who have financed and sponsored the development of sports, athletes, teams and sporting events over the last year.
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“The Covid pandemic has had a potentially devastating impact on sports in Africa, as in the rest of the world. Prior to the pandemic, sports marketing and sponsorship in Africa was already challenging, given that a lot of local organisations lack the financial capacity to activate their brands. Post the Covid pandemic and lockdown, a lot of these organisations have gone under financially,” he says. “It’s time to be innovative to ensure that sport sponsorship is sustained in Africa.”
As an experienced sports manager with three Masters’ degrees, including a Master of Science in Olympic Studies and Management of Olympic Events, Fadele provides strategic planning, implementation and evaluation of all Nigerian Olympic Committee programmes. He has led Team Nigeria to two Summer Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) and the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang in 2018, as well as two Commonwealth Games, namely Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018.
Fadele is hoping that African submissions stand out this year, specifically within the Brand or Sponsor of the Year category and the Event or Competition Sponsorship Award, but says that sport as a business is something that is yet to be fully embraced on the continent.
“There is a lot of untapped talent in Africa and there are plenty of opportunities. As an example, the United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA) just created a platform for Africa, and I am sure that other international sports franchises will follow suit shortly,” he says. “The creation of an African league is a smart development. As long as the sport is played in schools, sport centres and communities, its following will continue to grow.”
Turning to the impact of Covid-19, Fadele says that despite the ’empty seat syndrome’ and not having fans at sporting events for periods of time over the last two years, he is optimistic that sports will resume fully in 2022.
“Most recent sporting events have been held in a bubble, with no spectators. However, since the resumption of the various football leagues in Europe, we have not heard of any major setbacks due to the pandemic, and this provides hope that the various safety measures are working,” he says. “This will hopefully lead to increased levels of participation by African agencies in the business of sports into the future.”
Judging of the Hollard Sport Industry Awards is currently underway, and the winners will be announced at a televised event on Thursday 25 November 2021.
For more information, go to https://sportindustryawards.co.za/.
