Awards Categories
The 2021 categories are split into eight (8) groups:
BRANDS & PARTNERSHIPS.
Best Virtual Brand Experience
This award recognizes a brand that creatively connected with fans and consumers during periods of social distancing through an online activation, stunt or event. Judges will look for entries which enabled the brand to amplify a targeted message and met fans where they already are.
Most Creative Partnership (Without an Athlete or Influencer
This award recognizes creative excellence resulting from the collaborative effort of two or more organizations in or around sports. Judges will be looking for partnerships that drove engagement, revenue, or other measurable outcomes. Partnership may exist between brands, technology companies, publishers, sports properties and more.
Most Creative Partnership (With an Athlete or Influencer)
This award recognizes creative excellence from a brand, property, or publisher for collaboration with or integration of an athlete or digital influencer into content, campaigns, or activations. Judges will look at how the talent helped the organization better engage fans and deliver mutual & measurable impact on KPIs.
Most Engaging Sports Betting Partnership
This award recognizes a partnership designed to improve the fan experience through the implementation and growth of sports betting. Entries may include the launch of sportsbooks, gamified apps, data integration, influencer partnerships and more. Judges will look for entries with direct implications on how fans view and consume live sports.
CONTENT.
Best Branded Content or Series
This award recognizes content that is fused with a marketer’s product, brand, or message. Judges will be looking for digital content, social video, web series, or short-form films that offer entertainment value to fans and effectively amplify both the brand and publisher’s core values.
Best Original Content or Series (10 Min+)
This award recognizes high-quality digital and linear content, web series, or films with which fans are proven to have engaged. Judges will look for entries that leverage the influence of sports and power of video to connect with fans beyond the game. Entries may be scripted or unscripted but must not include the use or incorporation of a brand sponsor (see Best Branded Content or Series) and must be over ten minutes in length.
Best Original Content or Series (Under 10 Min)
This award recognizes high-quality short-form content, including digital and web shows, social video series, and/or shorts with which fans are proven to have engaged. Judges will look for entries that leverage the influence of sports and power of video to connect with fans beyond the game. Entries may be scripted or unscripted but must not include the use or incorporation of a brand sponsor (see Best Branded Content or Series) and must be under ten minutes in length.
Best Sports Betting Content
This award recognizes the most effective use of sports betting to build deeper relationships with fans through content, including digital video or audio series, studio shows, dedicated social media handles and more.
Best Sports Podcast
This award recognizes the most engaging podcast devoted to sports news, sports culture, sports storytelling, or that is hosted by an athlete and/or sports personality. Judges will look for podcasts that set the industry standard for conversation and connection through audio.
Best Use of Fan-Generated Content
This award recognizes best-in-class integration of user-generated content (UGC) and fans themselves into content or a campaign. Judges will look for entries in which the fan is the focal point of the narrative. Entries may also include co-creation with athletes and digital influencers.
FAN EXPERIENCE.
Best Engagement Through Esports or Gaming
This award recognizes the most effective use of esports or video gaming to connect with sports fans and/or young audiences. Entries may include esports partnerships, events, teams/leagues, content, or other forms of engagement.
Best Use of Technology
This award recognizes an innovative approach to leveraging technology and/or data to build deeper relationships with fans through personalized content or engaging experiences.
Best Virtual Fan Experience
This award recognizes an organization or technology that delivered an exceptional experience for fans from afar during a live sporting event (amid periods of social distancing). Entries may include, but are not limited to, virtual attendance or watch parties, remote productions, or other online activations and experiences.
Best Website or Mobile Experience
This award recognizes a digital destination that puts the fan at the heart of the experience. Judges will look for a website or mobile app that plays a critical role in driving results for the organization across sales, marketing, and more.
Best in OTT or Streaming
This award recognizes an OTT service or streaming platform that delivers a fresh take on sports coverage (live events or original content) and offers a high-quality user experience in order to adapt to evolving fan consumption habits.
Most Creative Engagement During the Sports Pause
This award recognizes the incredible engagement efforts that were launched around the globe amid the sports hiatus during the COVID-19 crisis. Entrants may submit content (digital, social or linear), campaigns, charitable programs and other work created to engage consumers, entertain fans, and deliver positive impact to society while sports were paused. Entries submitted to the free version of this category last year remain eligible.
IMPACT.
Best Engagement for Good
This award recognizes work to engage fans that has purpose and a positive impact on individuals or society. Judges will examine how resources were deployed across content, campaigns, or experiences to create long-lasting results. Entries may relate to social activism, CSR, community work, charitable efforts and more.
Excellence in Black Storytelling
This award recognizes content or other forms of storytelling that empower Black voices, history and stories through the lens of sport. Entries may include, but are not limited to, work celebrating Black History Month, amplifying the Black Lives Matter movement, and/or spotlighting Black trailblazers.
Gender Equality in Sports
This award recognizes content, campaigns, or other work that confronts gender disparities in sports—whether in the boardroom or on the court/field—and promotes equal opportunities for all.
Outstanding Social Justice Initiative
This award recognizes a program, project or other initiative by an organization to amplify awareness and/or advocate for meaningful change on issues of societal inequities by leveraging the power of sports. Judges will look for entries that encourage civic engagement.
MARKETING & STORYTELLING.
Best Athlete Storytelling
This award recognizes exceptional efforts of a publisher or platform in telling stories through the lens of an athlete. Judges will look for entries that resonate with fans by sharing an athlete’s most personal stories and passions.
Best Integrated Campaign
This award recognizes campaigns that meld new media and traditional channels (out-of-home, PR, print, etc.) to create a unified and engaging message. The mix of marketing channels, strategy showcasing how content was enhanced across each platform, and engagement that drove measurable results are key factors judges will primarily consider.
Best Life & Legacy Tribute
This award recognizes exceptional storytelling surrounding the life or legacy of an individual athlete, sports celebrity, executive or other personality. The tribute may be posthumous or spotlight someone still living (e.g. a retirement, a retrospective, etc.). Judges will look for entries that evoke emotion and drive social impact.
Best Social Media Campaign
This award recognizes a marketing campaign that involved the use of one or more social media platforms. Judges will be looking for viral and coordinated campaigns that generated fan/consumer conversation, connection—and results. Entries may be part of a multi-platform or integrated campaign but will be judged on engagement derived through social media.
Best Sports Return Storytelling
This award recognizes a national or local spot, marketing campaign, or piece of content that evoked emotion and excitement surrounding the return and recovery of live sports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Judges will look for entries that showcased the unifying power of sports.
Best Use of Culture, Music, or Entertainment
This award recognizes the most creative integration of popular culture into sports content, campaigns, or activations. Entries may utilize music, comedy, celebrities, film, fashion, culinary or other verticals to highlight the increasing convergence of sports with popular culture and the importance of such in engaging young audiences.
Best Women's Sports Storytelling
This award recognizes exceptional efforts to fuel the momentum and fandom of women’s sports leagues, teams, and female athletes. Entries may include all forms of content, marketing campaigns, and/or other story-driven work.
Best Social Live Stream Content
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of live video by an organization or athlete on one or more social platforms, including but not limited to Instagram Live, Facebook Live, Twitch, and more. Entries may feature a single stream or series.
Best Use of Graphics of Animation
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of design work to engage fans on social media through highly creative and shareable graphics, GIFs, visual effects or animated content.
Best Use of Stories or Ephemeral Content
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of rich media that is disappearing or accessible only for a limited time, including Stories, Fleets, Snapchat, WhatsApp messages, live-only streams and more. Judges will look for entries that engage users through authenticity and real-time relevancy.
Outstanding Use of Instagram
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of Instagram to engage an audience of connected fans and consumers. Judges will look for entries where the unique attributes of the platform helped achieve specific business goals.
Outstanding Use of TikTok
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of TikTok to engage an audience of connected fans and consumers. Judges will look for entries where the unique attributes of the platform helped achieve specific business goals.
Outstanding Use of Twitter
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of Twitter to engage an audience of connected fans and consumers. Judges will look for entries where the unique attributes of the platform helped achieve specific business goals.
Outstanding Use of YouTube
This award recognizes the most engaging and effective use of YouTube to engage an audience of connected fans and consumers. Judges will look for entries where the unique attributes of the platform helped achieve specific business goals.
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT.
Engagement Executive of the Year
This prestigious honor recognizes an executive who is shaping the future of sports content and experiences, raising the fan engagement bar not only for their organization but the industry at-large.
Next Up
This prestigious honor recognizes a professional under the age of thirty-three whose work emphasizes and epitomizes the impact of the next generation talent shift on the future of sports and entertainment. Judges will look for an individual who is digitally savvy, an agent of change, and a connoisseur of culture.
Outstanding Intern Contribution
This first-of-its-kind honor recognizes a student (all levels + programs) or recent graduate who made an exceptional contribution to a team, department, or business while interning with an organization in or adjacent to sports. Judges will look for an individual with aptitude to shape the future of content, marketing, or engagement efforts throughout their career. Students must be nominated by the internship provider—self-nominations not accepted.
OVERALL EXCELLENCE.
Outstanding Achievement in Overall Engagement for an Organization
This prestigious honor is given to the organization with the highest rating across all categories to reflect industry-wide excellence in engagement on all platforms and projects. Rating is determined through a combination of total shortlist nominations and weighted scores of judges. Entrants must submit to two or more categories in order to become eligible for this distinction. (*No additional entry fee required.)
Inspired to enter your own work?
Entries to the 4th Hashtag Sports Awards open January 5, 2021. Sign up below to be notified first when the entry period goes live.
SOCIAL MEDIA.