THE WORLD-CLASS sports and recreation facility Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena was one of the big winners at the inaugural Sports Industry Awards & Conference (SPIA Asia) held in the country last week.
Besting seven other finalists, the MOA Arena, located in the city of Pasay, won the gold award for “Sport & Recreation Facility of the Year” on the SPIA Asia gala night at the New World Hotel in Makati City on Friday.
A facility owned by SM Prime Holdings, the MOA Arena is an indoor facility with a full-house capacity of 20,000. It officially opened in June of 2012.
The venue has been the site for various sporting and recreation events, including Philippine Basketball Association and University Athletic Association of the Philippines games and concerts of local and foreign artists.
Winning the silver in the same category was another local world-class facility, the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Also winning gold awards from the Philippines were ABS-CBN, Primer Group and Max Restaurants & Carat.
ABS-CBN was hailed for “Best Sports Digital Platform” for “Isang Bayan Para Kay Pacman,” a campaign it staged early this year in support of Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao as he took on American Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
The campaign called for Filipinos to rally behind Mr. Pacquiao through various methods via the different social media platforms.
Primer Group and Carat, meanwhile, won in the “Best Sports CSR Campaign” and “Best Sports Marketing Campaign” categories, respectively, with their “The Bike Doctors” and “Puso de Max” campaigns.
Other gold winners were NBA Asia (Hong Kong) for “Best Sports Retail Campaign,” Football For All Vietnam by Football Association Norway/Asian Football Confederation (Vietnam) for “Best Sports Youth Program,” XLE Group (Vietnam) for “Best Sports Agency or Organization,” #MyFirstLFCGame by Liverpool FC & Garuda Indonesia (Indonesia) for “Use of Social Media in Sports,” Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore by Spectrum Worldwide (Singapore) for “Best Sports Participation/Amateur Event,” and BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore by Lagadere Sports (Singapore) for “Best Live Experience at a Sports Event.”
SPIA Asia was organized by MMC Sportz and Sport360 and sanctioned by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
From the initial submissions of 168 entries, 101 were short-listed as finalists for the 10 categories. Before coming up with the winners, the finalists were evaluated by a panel of the region’s leading industry experts and overseen by auditors in strict accordance with the international sports industry award rules, organizers said.
