Triple win for Borussia Dortmund! After the German Championship and DFB Cup, the BVB has now scooped its third title in a row: the football club was conferred the 2012 Sports Media Innovation Award for its “BVB Fantasy Manager” social game at the SPONSORs Sports Media Summit. Second place went to sports channel, Sportdigital, for its pay-per-view live sport offers via Facebook. Havas Sports & Entertainment came third with its “Flightdeck” social media listening tool.

SPONSORs readers and industry players voted for their three favourite projects from among the five finalists shortlisted by the expert jury. The top three projects were announced and honoured in the ISS Dome in Düsseldorf.

The “BVB Fantasy Manager” is a Facebook and iPhone app based on a classic football management tool in which fans are able to manage their favourite team. Borussia Dortmund was the first Bundesliga club to develop this social game for the German market.

2011 Winners

From Starbulls Rosenheim in the 2^nd Ice Hockey Bundesliga to national football champions Borussia Dortmund, Deutsche Telekom to the German Football Association (DFB), countless clubs, associations and companies submitted applications for the most diverse projects. The quantity, quality and above all range of the applications received are an indication of the vast amount of potential for innovation the industry harbours and proof that even small actions can have a big impact. Social media, online gaming and digital application offer sport new fields of activity and sources of income – as the top three projects show.

A total of four companies successfully outshone the strong competition:

Iconicfuture
Iconicfuture is taking a new approach with its ‘Marketplace for rights in social online and mobile games’. At the conference, the company founders outlined why they see a huge market in online gaming and how sports rights holders can access new business opportunities in this field.

German Football Association (DFB)
The German Football Association (DFB) introduced its best-selling ‘DFB App’, which is – in conjunction with the Twitter profile – a key component of the association’s massive efforts in the field of new media, which could also become the trailblazer for other associations. 

Anschutz Entertainment Group
Under the title ‘Dialogue as successful sponsoring’, the Anschutz Entertainment Group revealed how it surprises the customers of its partner o2 with added value by using the latest technology and services before, during and after visits to events.

Laola1
Laola1 and media agency Mediaedge:cia have developed future-oriented, user-friendly advertising, which allows them to place ‘content-related advertising in live sport on Laola1’.  At the Sports Media Summit, they explained how the product to be advertised is inserted at the appropriate moment in the ongoing action and – as in the case of client Novartis (Voltadol Schmerzgel) – a click rate that is an average of fifty times higher than for conventional online banner advertising can be achieved as a consequence.