In part, this has been driven by consumer demand for shorter, more dynamic formats – with cricket’s The Hundred one eye-catching example. But, at the same time, there is no question that sport is having to adapt to developments in the digital arena. As social media has become ever more central to people’s lives, creator involvement and community have grown in importance. Today, young fans are just as likely to stump up cash to attend a creator-led sports event as a more orthodox competition. Read on here

 UK Sponsorship Awards 2025 - nine headline themes

The dust has now settled on UKSA 2025 and soon it will be all systems go for the 2026 edition, to be launched officially in September. 2025 proved to be a bumper year, with a surge in entries and a renewed confidence not witnessed since before Covid-19. Despite a volatile economic backdrop, sponsorship in 2025 appeared to be benefiting from several key trends and events – Paris 2024, continued support for women’s sport and a resurgence in digital media to cite a few. Having sifted through the entries and listened to judges, here a few of the headline trends that came to the fore: 

Women’s sports sponsorship continues to surge: As in recent years, UKSA 2025 was packed with great sponsorships that seek to empower girls and women. The overall winner on the night, Metro Bank’s ‘Champion of Women’s and Girls’ cricket’, entered by The Space Between, is aiming to triple the number of girl’s cricket teams by 2028. For judges, the partnership was a standard bearer in the recent empowering growth of women’s sport as a commercial and community-based platform.

Other women-focused campaigns included Kick On With Starling, a project to support women’s and girls’ grassroot football teams. With former Lioness Jill Scott as ambassador, the scheme has provided 10,000 women and girls with free kit, while the social media campaign for ‘Kick On’ has outperformed expectations. In a similar vein, a partnership between TeamViewer, Manchester United FC and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1, entered by WeAreFearless set out to address the gender gap in sports technology, where 75% of roles are currently held by men.

Arts sponsorship shows resilience: It’s been a tough few years for arts sponsorship. First came the Covid-19 crisis and then came a rise in anti-sponsor activism. Oil & Gas-themed sponsorships were first to come under attack, but more recently attention has switched to financial services firms that partner with the arts.   Read on here

Metro Bank secures Sponsorship of the Year Trophy at the 2025 edition of the UK Sponsorship Awards

We Are Fearless. scoops Consultancy of the Year

Social purpose and diversity are the dominant themes on the night, while NatWest and TeamGB wins Olympics/Paralympics category

Metro Bank, ‘Champion of Women’s and Girls’ cricket’, entered by The Space Between, is the UK Sponsorship Awards’ Sponsorship of the Year for 2025. The team behind the sponsorship collected their accolade in front of a capacity crowd at the London Marriott Hotel.

The campaign, which is aiming to triple the number of girl’s cricket teams by 2028, finished the night with three wins. For judges, the partnership was a standard bearer in the recent empowering growth of women’s sport as a commercial and community-based platform.

Other multiple award winners on the night included Sela and Newcastle United, with its innovative Unsilence The Crowd Campaign. The campaign won in the Diversity and Best Use of PR categories, running Metro Bank close in the race for the overall award. Gallagher & Premiership Rugby; Play On with Dirt is Good and Arsenal FC; and NatWest and TeamGB were also multiple winners this year.

In terms of Agency Awards, We Are Fearless celebrated its 10^th anniversary by winning the overall Consultancy of the Year Award. Matchfit, meanwhile, was named Challenger Agency of the Year.

The newly-expanded Rights Holder category saw wins for the LW Theatres, Live Nation and Transport for London. This year’s Champions of Sponsorship included We Are Futures’ Mark Fawcett, British Cycling’s Darren Henry and Live Nation’s Jim Campling.

Several of 2025’s segment included competitive shortlists, none more so than Social Purpose which saw two categories for the first time. Metro won one and the other went to Paddy Power & Prostate Cancer UK  - The BIGGER 180. The Arts Sponsorship prize went to LW Theatres and Cathay, capping off a great night for the rights holder.

Even outside the Social Purpose categories, 2025’s cohort of entries was characterised by sponsorship strategies with a strong prosocial purpose. Evian (environment), Three Mobile (celebrity & influencer), Women’s Sport Trust (research) and Scottish Power (smaller budget) all delivered powerful, empathetic, category winning campaigns. So did British Gas which won Grass Roots with ‘Olympic Overhaul’.

Aside from those already mentioned, St. James’s Place (TV), Carling (Print, Radio, Film), Sky Broadband (esports), TCS (mass participation), Dreams (innovation) and Andrex (Craft & Creativity) also triumphed on the night. Virgin Media O2 celebrated Amos Sanyaolu winning the Barrie Gill Award for the Most Promising Young Sponsorship Executive alongside with Emma Tarcy from BAFTA.

It was a very good night for the automotive sector with Škoda (social media), Lexus (sport), Volvo (technology) and Kia (venue) all going home with awards. eBay, which has previously won the overall award, continued its run of success, going home with top prize in the live entertainment and event category – another motoring-themed entry.

As in previous years, UKSA was delighted to welcome new entrants to the sector. This year’s first-time winner was Tesco Whoosh. At the other end of the spectrum, one of Gallagher’s two wins came in continuity, a category which celebrates durable partnerships.

As always, the spread of finalists demonstrated how sponsorship is embraced by businesses across numerous sectors. Illustrating the diversified nature of the industry’s impact, there were entries from finance, FMCG, the energy sector, health, media, automotive, construction, gaming, retail, logistics, mobile/telecoms, toys, personal care, hotels, travel & leisure and the drinks industry. Flying the flag for media companies was Cartoon Network, which won the education category; while Marriott Bonvoy’s win in the international category illustrated the importance of hotel & hospitality to sponsorship.

UK Sponsorship Awards organiser Rosemary Sarginson said: “The quality and ingenuity of our winners and finalists never ceases to amaze me. As always, it was an honour to welcome so many friends and colleagues, rising stars and industry leaders, to this celebration of the sponsorship industry’s creativity, innovation and effectiveness. Congratulations to everybody who entered the UK Sponsorship Awards 2025. Thanks to our judges, and here’s to meeting again in 2026.”

UK Sport Industry Group Report 2025 - Five key take-aways for sponsors

The Sport Industry Group has just released its Sport Industry Report for 2025. Created in partnership with Nielsen, the Report provides an illuminating insight into the UK sports sector – from multiple perspectives. Based around a survey of 1006 sports fans and 223 sports industry professionals, it provides plenty of food for thought for sponsors looking to maximise their investment through deeper fan engagement. 

Among key findings, the report identified the following five headline trends:

Sport is witnessing a marked shift to digital fanship. According to the Report, fan engagement is undergoing a dramatic transformation. While live events and TV broadcasts remain important, a staggering 73% of fans now follow their favourite sports primarily through social media. In part this is about the cost of attending events or subscribing to media services, but it is also a clear indication of the way younger demographics choose to consume sports content. For sponsors, it means that more campaign activation needs to take place via social platforms like YouTube and TikTok.

The industry has seen an appetite among fans for format innovation: Intriguingly, the Report finds that fans welcome evolution in their favourite sports. While the perception might be that they are inherently conservative (Five Day Test Matches etc), SIG says 76% of fans “believe that format innovation is essential for driving the industry forward”. Perhaps this is an invitation for sponsors to embrace new formats and franchises. According to SIG, governing bodies and organisations are responding to this fan demand for innovation, “exploring bold ideas to meet these expectations”. A key example of this is the growing crossover between professional sport and the creator economy (eg The Baller League or the PGA’s Creator Classic).

Fans are embracing the growth of women’s sport: Women’s sport holds enormous potential, according to the Report, and is expected to grow from $1bn in global revenue in 2023 to a projected $23 billion by 2033. 72% of sports fans believe that “sponsoring women’s sport reflects well on sponsor brands”. Football is the most popular women’s sport in the UK, but Olympic sports fronted by individual athletes – tennis, athletics, swimming and cycling – are then dominant, particularly among female fans.

Social impact and sustainability commitments are supported by fans: A healthy 68% of fans agree that it reflects well on brands who partner with sports organisations on initiatives that promote positive social change. Moreover, they are likely to link their purchasing decisions to these values as a result. At the same time, younger fans are prioritising sustainability in their engagement with sport. Notably, 87% of 18 to 34-year-olds would be willing to pay higher ticket prices if it was put towards a positive environmental benefit. This demonstrates a powerful opportunity for sport and sponsors to lead in environmental responsibility and align with evolving fan values.

Tech in sport is welcomed by fans (but not VAR): 82% of fans and 91% of industry professionals agree that technology is an overall positive for sport. Football’s VAR is the innovation viewed least positively, but other officiating systems are more popular. In the media, technology has driven a wide range of viewing and consumption habits and created demand for different content and interactive experiences before, during and after live games. This is an area that sponsors can tap into if they are keen to demonstrate their cutting-edge capabilities to fans. The report predicts that “Artificial Intelligence will accelerate the trend towards personalisation by enabling customisable live streams, richer real-time insights, automated translations and more”.

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Winning a Sponsorship Award isn't just a pat on the back and a splendid trophy to dress your foyer (though it’s certainly that as well), it brings with it tangible benefits and long-lasting commercial impact. Click here for ten reasons why you should enter and a host of testimonials from winners.	The sponsorship industry is peopled by fantastically enthusiastic and dynamic individuals. We recognise these executives in two categories. For more information on these categories, please click here.	We are also on hand for any help/advice you might need, so please click on the Help! button, send us an email and we will come back to you by return. It doesn't have to be an Awards related query - if we don't know the answer, we’ll find someone who does.