The competition for SPORTO Awards is open to applicants based in the Adriatic region, which includes countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Eligible for entry are projects with the majority of their activities taking place in the period from 31 October 2015 to 30 October 2016.
The awards will be given in five categories: SPORTO Sponsorship Award and a subcategory SPORTO Endorsement Award, SPORTO Rightsholder Award, SPORTO Media Award and SPORTO Digital Award. The highest ranking project as decided by the international jury in the category of SPORTO Sponsorship Awards will be automatically placed in the competition for the European Sponsorship Association Excellence Awards in the category Best of Europe [2016 ESA Excellence Awards].
The awards will be decided by members of the international jury for SPORTO Awards 2016. Members of the jury for SPORTO Awards 2016 are Saša Ćirić (Frikom d.o.o.), Toby Hester (Sponsorship Coach), Darko Ivančević (Zagrebačka pivovara), Mitja Jereb (Renderspace), Niko Kušar (Telekom Slovenije), Uroš Stanić (NK Rijeka) and Špela Žorž (Grey Ljubljana).
The applications for SPORTO Awards are open until 28 October 2016. The winners will be selected on 16 November 2016 by an international jury, and the awards will be presented at the evening ceremony of SPORTO conference on 17 November 2016.
The winners of SPORTO Awards 2015 were projects Frutabela LAB (SPORTO Sponsorship Award), #resničnofajn Filip Flisar (SPORTO Endorsement Award), Volkswagen 20th Ljubljana Marathon (SPORTO Rightsholder Award), RTL Television Croatia − World Handball Championship in Qatar (SPORTO Media Award) and Planica 2015 Virtual Ski Flying (SPORTO Digital Award). “The standard displayed through the mix of sponsorships judged reflects a wider sponsorship market that is clearly building some of Europe’s best in class and most mature sponsorship thinking,” noted one of the members of last year’s jury, John Trainor (European Sponsorship Association).
