2020 Winners
WFS Industry Awards
When the game starts, football belongs to the players. They are the only stars. But for footballers to shine on the pitch, the hidden work of countless professionals across the industry’s multiple sectors is required. The WFS Industry Awards were created to acknowledge and reward the achievements of these executives, managers, sponsors, agencies, media, NGOs and other professionals whose talent, passion and dedication help make football the greatest show of our time.
WFS IA 2020
Since the inception of the WFS Industry Awards, in 2017, the ceremony has been a part of World Football Summit’s annual congress in Madrid. This year the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to suspend this event, but we believe it wouldn’t be fair to cancel the awards. During the past months football has faced the biggest challenge in history and it has managed to overcome it thanks to the talent, commitment and brilliant work of its outstanding professionals. This year the industry deserves to be rewarded more than ever. That’s why we have decided to maintain the WFS Industry Awards, which will be handed virtually on Friday November 27th as part of WFS Live.
CALENDAR
October 18, 2020
Application closes
November 9-11, 2020
Finalists announcement
November 16, 2020
Winners announcement
November 27, 2020
WFS Industry Awards 2020
Q&A Sessions
September 24th, 2019 – 20:15 hrs
WFS Indsutry Awards Venue
FLORIDA RETIRO
(Paseo República de Panamá, 1, 28009 Madrid, Spain)
CATEGORIES
WFS INDUSTRY AWARDS HALL OF FAME
Jury members
Best Executive
Xavier Asensi
Lisa Baird
Stefano Bertola
Chad Biagini
Mike Tomon
Dionna Widder
Best Supplier
Matthew Cairns
Rohn Malhotra
Philipp Rossner
Nathalie Sonne
Petr Zhukov
Football for Good
Ana Arizabaleta
Tomasz Frankowski
Jürgen Griesbeck
Yianny Ioannou
Urs Kluser
BEST VENUE
Maddalena Cannarsa
Sam Hughes
Andy Simons
Marina Tranchitella
Jeroen van Iersel
BEST CLUB COMMERCIAL INITIATIVE
Alfredo Bustillo
Carlos Cantó
Pascual Martínez
Pablo N. Ruiz
Benedikt Scholz
BEST WOMEN’S FOOTBALL INITIATIVE
Tom Corbett
Mayi Cruz Blanco
Ebru Köksal
Kerstin Lutz
Hala Ousta
Best Internationalisation Strategy
Jokin Aperribay
Rocío Fernandez-Rubies
Concha Iglesias
Carlos Ocaña
Sergio Oslé Varona
Best Digital Platform
Rob Harris
Jamie King
Fiona Staines
Russell Stopford
Amanda Vandervort
Francois Westcombe
Outstanding Innovation Initiative
Aitor Jimenez Villar
Mathieu Lacome
Benjamin Stoll
Susanne Timosci
Shane Whelan
Mounir Zok
WFS Industry Awards Hall of Fame
BEST EXECUTIVE
Giuseppe Marotta
Gustavo Silikovich
BEST SUPPLIER
Beyond 90
Golstats
BEST CSR INITIATIVE
Futbolmás
Gol y Paz
BEST VENUE
Wanda Metropolitano
San Mamés
BEST CLUB COMMERCIAL INITIATIVE
Valencia C.F.
BEST WOMEN’S FOOTBALL INITIATIVE
Iberdrola
MOST CREATIVE CAMPAIGN
Houdini – Cristal
Best Marketing Initiative
Mastercard
BEST EXECUTIVE
Directed to:
The executive who has made a change for the benefit of the institution, has made the most efficient use of its resources and has achieved greater impact according to their capabilities.
We will evaluate:
· Financial management
· Operational management
· Sports facilities
· Investment
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Registration Form
BEST SUPPLIER
Directed to:
Companies that provide products or services to the football industry.
* The company may be a supplier for different football clubs or sports disciplines.
We will evaluate:
· General description of the company
· Specific description of the product or service
· Results obtained through the implementation of the product or service
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Registration Form
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Formulario de Registro
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Formulario de Registro
FOOTBALL FOR GOOD
Directed to:
Clubs, Club Foundations, institutions, NGOs or companies that promote social change through football.
We will evaluate:
· Creativity of the initiative
· Social impact
· Repercussion
· Originality
· Management of resources obtained with the initiative*.
*If the club collaborates with an external entity (foundation), the prize will be awarded on behalf of the two institutions.
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Registration Form
BEST INTERNATIONALISATION STRATEGY
Directed to:
The company or institution who has expanded its business internationally.
We will evaluate:
· Presence in new markets
· Business scalability
· Brand expansion
· New sources of income
· Business diversification
· Use of technology involved to develop and implement the strategy
· CSR initiatives involved in this strategy
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Registration Form
OUTSTANDING INNOVATION INITIATIVE
Directed to:
Football rights holders: clubs, federations, and leagues, that have recently implemented an innovative initiative with demonstrated new value generated. The Initiative must have formally begun within past 2 calendar years of award year (after 2018), and may either be completed or ongoing.
We will evaluate:
One or several of the following attributes must be present, where some combination of innovation, technology, digital, or data strategy was applied in the initiative:
· Implementation of data and analytics strategy
· Digital transformation process to show added value to fans and followers
· Adoption of an innovation mechanism
· Holistic nature of the initiative
· Demonstrated results earned with longer term growth planned
· If technology features prominently, the market for the technology
· Uniqueness of initiative
· Scalability of initiative
· Disruption potential of initiative
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Registration Form
BEST VENUE
Directed to:
Stadiums and sport facilities.
We will evaluate:
· Fan Experience (in the stadium or through new technologies)
· Changes in infrastructure
· Technological advances (Connectivity)
· Match day operations
· Access
· Personalized attention
· Comfort
· Catering
· Security
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Registration Form
BEST DIGITAL PLATFORM
Directed to:
Football teams, leagues, federations, NGOs and sponsors that have developed or launched a digital product or platform.
We will evaluate:
· User experience
· Innovation & technology
· Originality
· ROI
· Benchmarking against other similar platforms
· Audience and industry impact
· Targets vs results
· Research that went into the product or platform
· Commercial impact
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Registration Form
BEST CLUB COMMERCIAL INITIATIVE
Directed to:
The commercial initiative of a club that has allowed an increase in income.
Examples of initiatives that may be presented as candidates:
· Fan Engagement, Social Networks, members, ticketing, friendly matches, equipment, licenses, among others.
We will evaluate:
· The creativity of the initiative
· The efficiency in achieving the pre-set results
· Increase in club’s income
· Impact
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Registration Form
BEST WOMEN’S FOOTBALL INITIATIVE
Directed to:
The company or institution whose performance or initiative has contributed in an outstanding and relevant way to promote the development and growth of women’s football, on a professional level, achieving notoriety and a certain projection that inspires new generations to practice it and audiences to follow it.
We will evaluate:
· Repercussion and notoriety of the initiative or project: ROI in communication, RRSS and Media tools to take action and carry on the initiative
· Overall contribution to the growth of the women’s football industry
· Incentive to the practice of women’s football
· Social impact on women’s football
· Sustainability of the action or initiative on a long-term period
· The efficiency in achieving the preset results
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Registration Form
MOST CREATIVE CAMPAIGN
Directed to:
The most creative video campaign around football.
We will evaluate:
· The creativity of the campaign
· Innovation
· Impact / Coverage