2009 Ultimate Sports Websites Awards

[QPR Report]

Sports Business.com

Chelsea wins SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Websites Award
HomeNews

Chelsea FC won its first major trophy of the new season, beating Premier League rivals Manchester United to the inaugural SportBusiness Ultimate Sports Websites Award 2009.

The Awards were introduced by SportBusiness Group to recognise the increasingly important role that an effective online presence plays in all areas of sport and commerce. These range from attracting and engaging fans to delivering profile for sponsors and cost-effective revenue generation through ticket and merchandise sales. Chelsea won the overall Award by a single point.

Awards were made in six categories: Content; Community; Style; Monetisation; Partnership Activation and Attracting New Fans. Accumulated scores across the categories determined the overall winner of the Ultimate Sports Website Award 2009.

Within each category, Awards were made for Club or team Sites; Event Sites; federation or League Site and Generic site or portal. Chelsea also won the Club/Team Awards in the Style and Community categories with Manchester United taking the honours for Content, Monetisation and Partnership activation.

Cas Knight, managing director of Chelsea Digital Media, accepted the award from SportBusiness Group editorial director, Kevin Roberts, and said Chelsea was delighted to have won the award. "This award recognizes the increasingly important role that our website plays in the business of Chelsea FC. Our online operation is hugely important in developing our international fan base and makes a major contribution in terms of our communication with fans, our partnerships and our ticketing operation. Perform, our digital media partner, has enabled us to push technical, functional and editorial boundaries that mean chelseafc.com is always evolving as a product."

Other multi-award winners were London 2012 - which took the Award for Style and Partnership Activation in the event site sector, Euro 2008, which was successful in the Content and Attracting New Fans categories, also for the events sector. The World Rally Championship won the Federation/League Award for Content and Community and Sky Sports which won Awards for Style and Partnership Activation in the Generic/Portal sector.

Kevin Roberts, SportBusiness Group’s editorial director said: “Since SportBusiness International’s launch in 1996 we have covered the development of sports websites at every step. Today they are at the very core of many sports clubs and events, providing a 24/7 interface with fans and creating a real sense of community and belonging and reaching every part of the world. The best websites have changed the way that the world of sport relates and reacts to its customers…the fans.”

The Ultimate Sports Websites Awards are based on the findings of a new SportBusiness report by Rachael Church-Sanders. ‘Ultimate Sports Websites: Creating a Winning Online Proposition for Sport’ provides a ‘how to’ guide to creating a successful and profitable sports website.

It shows the latest website monetisation strategies and backs them up with case studies as well as ranking the very best sports websites worldwide. For an executive summary or more information on the report, please contact Adam Barker, Information Sales Manager, SportBusiness Group: [e-mail] [phone]

For more information on the Awards, please contact Phil Savage, Publishing Director, SportBusiness Group: [e-mail] [phone]

Top 10 - Ultimate Sports Websites 2009

1 Chelsea
2 Manchester United
3 WRC
4 NBA
5 Euro 2008
6 Cricinfo
7 Sky Sports
8 Super Bowl
9 PGA TOUR
10 Australian Grand Prix

Category Winners - Ultimate Sports Websites 2009

Award for best site content

Winner, Club or Team Site: Manchester United*
Winner, Event Site: Euro 2008*
Winner, Federation or League Site: WRC
Winner, Generic or Portal: Cricinfo*

Asterisk (*) denotes winners of multiple awards

Award for best site community

Winner, Club or Team Site: Chelsea FC*
Winner, Event Site: US Masters
Winner, Federation or League Site: WRC*
Winner, Generic or Portal: Footymad

Asterisk (*) denotes winners of multiple awards

Award for best site style

Winner, Club or Team Site: Chelsea FC*
Winner, Event Site: London 2012*
Winner, Federation or League Site: AFL
Winner, Generic or Portal:l Sky Sports*

Asterisk (*) denotes winners of multiple awards

Award for best site monetisation
Winner, Club or Team Site: Manchester United*
Winner, Event Site: Superbowl
Winner, Federation or League Site: NBA
Winner, Generic or Portal: Football 365

Asterisk (*) denotes winners of multiple awards

Award for best partnership activation

Winner, Club or Team Site: Manchester United*
Winner, Event Site: London 2012*
Winner, Federation or League Site: The Football League
Winner, Generic or Portal: Sky Sports*

Asterisk (*) denotes winners of multiple awards

Award for best site for attracting new fans

Winner, Club or Team Site: Barcelona
Winner, Event Site: Euro 2008*
Winner, Federation or League Site: UEFA*
Winner, Generic or Portal: CricInfo*

Asterisk (*) denotes winners of multiple awards

www.sportbusiness.com/news/170101/chelsea-wins-sportbusiness-ultimate-sports-websites-award


2009 Ultimate Sports Websites Awards

SportBusiness Groups' Report 'Ultimate Sports Websites' on the business of sports websites provides Analysis, case-studies and ultimately, rankings of the very best sports websites from around the world.

Identifying the top 25 websites in each sector; Club or Team site, Event site, Federation or League site, Generic or Portal, the author Rachel Church has determined criteria to judge and score each against. The report is a guide to best practice by example and is available to order from SportBusiness.

Taking the results from the report, SportBusiness Group is proud to launch the Ultimate Sports Websites Awards, an annual celebration of the best in class and an opportunity to raise the bar for excellence in website content, design, and function.

The Ultimate Sports Websites Awards are split into the following 6 award categories; Content, Community, Style, Monetisation, Partnership Activation, and Attracting New Fans. Within each category, there are 4 winners based on the sector from which they operate in; Club or Team site, Event site, Federation or League site, Generic or Portal.

AWARD CATEGORIES
Content
Community
Style
Monetisation
Partnership Activation
Attracting New Fans


Taking the total of the site's scores across each of the award categories gives us the sector winners - the best performing websites in each sector.

The website with highest score overall is then highlighted as the Ultimate Sports Websites Awards - Overall winner.

View the 2009 Ultimate Sports Websites Awards Winners

www.sportbusiness.com/awards/uswa

[QPR Report]

Chelsea Official Site
CHELSEA BEATS MAN UNITED TO CLAIM TOP AWARD
Posted on: Mon 03 Aug 2009

Chelsea Football Club claimed the first victory of the new season over rivals Manchester United after winning the inaugural Sport Business Top 100 Ultimate Sport Website Award.

As well as fighting off tough competition from next weekend's Community Shield opponents, Chelsea also finished ahead of the likes of BBC Sport, Sky Sports, Cricinfo and the NBA.

The honour follows recent success for the club's digital arm, Chelsea Digital Media. Chelsea TV was nominated for two awards at the Broadcast Digital Awards last month, picking up a 'highly commended' in the Best Specialist Channel category.

All nominated websites were judged across six categories: content, community, style, monetisation, partnership activation and new fan acquisition and awards were given to the highest scoring websites in each. Chelseafc.com was awarded the overall prize having accumulated 108 points across all the categories.

The awards are based on the results of a new report from the SportBusiness Group on the business of sports websites, which provides analysis and case studies of the very best sites from around the world.

Casimir Knight, managing director at Chelsea Digital Media, said: 'This award recognises the increasingly important role that our website plays in the business of Chelsea Football Club. Our online operation is hugely important in developing our international fan base and makes a major contribution in terms of our communication with fans, our partnerships and our ticketing operation.'

Developed and hosted by Perform, the UK-based digital sport and entertainment specialist, Chelseafc.com was re-vamped last year and features a range of cutting edge technology. The site includes an innovative feature allowing fans to personalise their experience with news feeds and chat threads; a first for an official club website. Other features include a scrolling fixtures application to keep up to date with forthcoming games, as well as bespoke areas of the site for overseas fans and four different language offerings.

Perform was also briefed to drive e-commerce to the club through the new site. This incorporates an innovative online retail store, as well as the ability to become a member of Chelsea FC online. A free e-membership offering exclusive content including player interviews, even providing the chance for fans to ask players questions in live web chats has also been developed to help drive traffic to the site.

Oliver Slipper, joint CEO at Perform, said: 'We set out to create a superior website to help Chelsea engage with their fans and drive e-commerce to the club. At Perform, we always strive to be at the forefront of digital development and this award confirms that Chelseafc.com is leading the way. We will continue to work with Chelsea to develop the site and look forward to maintaining an innovative service.'

www.chelseafc.com/news/chelsea-beats-man-united-to-claim-top-award-20090803_2243335_1741327

[QPR Report]

Football League

FOOTBALL LEAGUE WEBSITE WINS TOP AWARD
Posted on: 03.08.2009
SportBusiness International magazine today named www.football-league.co.uk as a winner in the 2009 Ultimate Sports Website Awards in the League/Federation category.

The website, re-launched at the beginning of the 2008/09 season, won the Best Partnership Activation Award for its work online with sponsors.

In addition to the popular Coca-Cola Football League Podcasts, judges were impressed with Texaco Fantasy Football, which attracted more than 40,000 team entries last season.

The 2009 Awards are based on the new report Ultimate Sports Websites: Creating A Winning Online Proposition for Sport by top sports consultant Rachael Church-Sanders.

She said: "The Football League website is an excellent resource for fans of Football League clubs.

"It provides a full range of easily accessible data-rich content and leverages video in an invaluable way.

"The site fully deserves this partnerships accolade due to its clear links to sponsor sites and promotion of partner digital initiatives such as Texaco Fantasy Football."

www.football-league.co.uk/page/News/FLNewsDetail/0,,10794~1742224,00.html