caytoo sponsored the annual European Sponsorship Association Awards, focusing on the most successful sport sponsorships campaigns costing less than €1 million.

The winners offer some compelling and creative ideas that rights holders can use and adapt to try and engage potential sponsors. And here they are…

Campaigns < €250,000: Ideapark x Team Classic

Ideapark is the largest and most well-known shopping centre in Finland while Team Classic is one of the most successful clubs in floorball, one of the country’s most popular sports.

The two parties signed a deep, strategic and genuinely unique sponsorship agreement based on the idea of bringing sports entertainment to the middle of a shopping centre.

This involved the club transferring its matches, practices, camps and functions to the shopping centre which resulted in an additional €4m in sales and 500,000 visitors for the shopping centre.

Campaigns €250,000-€499,999: Sky Ireland x ROI Women’s Football

Sky Ireland needed to align with something close to the heart of the Irish nation to grow brand affinity. So they teamed up with the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team who were embarking on their journey to qualify for their first ever World Cup.

This provided Sky with an opportunity to use their voice to effect lasting positive change for the sport in this country by genuinely helping the team get to their first-ever World Cup.

So they created a rallying call and creative platform called #OUTBELIEVE to get the entire nation to believe in the team and support them through thick and thin to reach unprecedented heights.

Campaigns €500,000-€999,999: AGU x Team Jumbo-Visma

AGU, which produces cycling apparel, was on the eve of European expansion so wanted to grow brand awareness. Team Jumbo-Visma is a UCI world cycling team who had been ordered by the governing body to change the design of their regular jersey as it looked too much like the Tour de France’s yellow leader jersey.

So the two parties came up with an idea to promote their joint Dutch Heritage. Inspired by the ‘Dutch Masters’ such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Vermeer, they created The Masterpiece jersey – a colourful cycling jersey that became more than a campaign and was talked about by riders, journalists and commentators.

In total, the campaign reached 207 million people at a media value of €2.9 million while more than 11,500 Masterpiece jerseys were sold, a 1,140% rise versus Team Jumbo-Visma’s regular jerseys.

Alongside the most successful sport sponsorships, here is the full 2023 list of winners and shortlisted entries for the European Sponsorship Awards.