Endorsed and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Sports

Authority Thailand and the Tourism Authority Thailand, SPIA Asia announce

2016 awards shortlist and conference agenda

BANGKOK, Thailand – The shortlist for the 2016 Asian Sports Industry Awards (SPIA Asia) was announced today with Thailand performing strongly – 12 submissions have been shortlisted across the 13 Asian Award categories while 60 entries made the final cut for the four Thai only categories, joining the region’s leading rights holders, marketing agencies, sports brands, events, organizations, and venue operators. Also announced by organizers MMC Sportz and Sport360 was the conference program for “The Business of Sports – Asia’s Sports Industry in the Fastlane II”.

The Asian Sports Industry Awards series is the official celebration of the business leaders, organizations, facilities and campaigns at the forefront of the sporting industry, that have made a contribution to the growth and development of sport across the Asian region over the past 12 months. It was founded by MMC Sportz, a Dubai and Manila based sports advertising and communication agency, and Sport360, the leading daily sports content provider in the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaking at the announcement Lt. Col. Ruj Saengudom, Deputy Governor for Professional Sports and Privileges, Sports Authority of Thailand, said “Thailand has seen tremendous growth in the sports arena in recent years. Both in terms of athlete skills and the appearance of Thai athletes at international competitions all over the globe, including the Olympics and World Championships, and also in terms of our domestic facilities and sports industry.

“SPIA Asia is a great opportunity for Thailand’s sports industry to gather with key players in international sports and showcase Thailand’s talents and we hope to pick up a few of the prestigious awards which would be an additional catalyst and motivator for our local organizers and brands to encourage them to further invest into the local sports development.

“We are excited about hosting SPIA Asia 2016 from 3-4 October in Bangkok under the MOTS and SAT sanction and encourage our local sports community to participate and to reach out to the Asian Sports Industry Community during the Awards and the Conference”.

Open to 17 Asian countries SPIA Asia 2016 is recognizing the achievements of the sports industry in a total of 19 distinct categories (4 Thai, 12 Asian, 1 International, 2 Recognition Awards), both professional and community focused. An encouraging 208 entries were received with 161 making the final cut before the judges vote on 3 October 2016.

“Credibility is key to the awards – therefore each shortlisted submission will now go through a further two rounds of process, overseen by a judging panel of 20 of the region’s industry experts, and facilitated by international auditors with the winners announced at a black-tie gala dinner concluding the conference,” commented Mark Kar, Development Director at Sport360.

Equally important as the awards, the official agenda for the appropriately named “The Business of Sports – Asia’s Sports Industry in the Fast lane II” is released. Eric Gottschalk, CEO of MMC Sportz explains, “The conference will gather the industry leaders during a two-day period to discuss best practices and latest developments within the sports industry. With an incredible strong panel of speakers and presenters lined up it has become the must attend event of our industry. We have confirmed speakers from leading agencies and industry experts including of IMG, Lagardere, GroupM, MEDIAPRO, Total Sports Asia, TATA Consulting, PBI, ASN, SMG Insight as well as many Brands and Government bodies such as AFC, AFF, SAT, MOTS and many more”.

Key topics include, but are not limited to:

• Tourism & Sports and the economic impact of mass participation events.
• Sustainability and management of Sporting Assets of Federations and Governing Bodies.
• Integrity in the Business of Sport.
• Research Bullet: Sponsorship in Numbers.
• New Trends in Sports from Technology to new entertainment formats.
• Social Media Penetration in Facts & Numbers.
• Technology: Trends, Data and analysis changing how we view, market and execute sports events.
• Youth and Academies – a mix of good business and talent-development.
• Sports & Health: how brands and sports can play a bigger role in preventing todays lifestyle diseases.

Singha Corporation is delighted to announce their continuous support of SPIA Asia for a second year running.

Speaking during the shortlist announcement about the partnership, Director Corporate Strategy-International Sports Marketing, Jaturon Zane Himathongkom felt the high caliber of attendees was representative of not only the sports industry but the region’s business sector as a whole.

“We greatly enjoyed the strong mix of business people and sports experts, and while we acknowledge that the key focus is on the awards, we were pleased to see so many sport industries involved, from brands, agencies, services providers, venue operators or simply rights holders and event organizers. The passion for sport in business has very much defined the Singha Corporation’s philosophy and is one of the reasons we have continued and expanded our partnership with SPIA Asia this year, as SPIA Asia truly reflects our corporate philosophy in sports as well”.

SPIA Asia 2016 is supported by the following partners:

Ministry of Tourisms and Sports, Tourism Authority Thailand, Sports Authority Thailand, Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation, Singha Corporation, Toyota, Grand Sports, Red Bull, SMG Insight, Dubai Sports City, Centara Grand Bangkok, MPA, ASN, Global Sports Jobs, New York Times, SRI, Infinity Communications, The Sponsorship Experts, and is organized by Sport 360 and MMC Sportz.

For event information, delegate passes, or conference program enquires kindly visit the official SPIA Asia 2016 website www.spiaasia.com, while for sponsorship inquiries contact our local marketing partner Paul Poole (South East Asia) Limited Company (email: [email protected]).