Last updated 27/07/2026
Who can enter
This can be completed by the sponsor itself, or the rights holder/ governing body granting the sponsorship rights, or the associated agency representing the sponsor or the rights holder/ governing body. However, the entrant must make all parties aware of the entry and all sponsors, rights holders and agencies involved should agree that the entry is a true reflection of the sponsorship concerned. Names for the relevant sponsor, rights holder and agencies involved in the sponsorship should be supplied. The parties should agree upon the correct title and reference for the sponsorship project.
Conditions for entry
To be eligible to enter, projects submitted must reflect sponsorship activity based within at least one European market. The major part of a sponsorship project nominated must have taken place between 1 March 2025 and 31 October 2026. If in doubt, please speak to our team.
A single sponsorship project may be entered in one award category or as many award categories as the entrants so choose. However, entrants should take care when selecting the category or categories that the nominated project complies with the applicable criteria for that category, to ensure the best chance of success. Where a sponsorship project is entered in more than one category, separate entry forms must be used for each category entry, tailored as appropriate for each category.
Entries must be completed in English. As a pan-European body, ESA welcomes entries from individuals for whom English is not the first language. ESA strives to ensure the opportunity is fair regardless of language. Non-native English speakers are invited to contact our team where additional support will be offered to ensure they are not disadvantaged.
Consent to use material and compliance with applicable laws and regulations
Entrants must ensure that all necessary consents, licences, permissions and clearances have been secured at no cost to ESA in relation to any logos, trademarks, images, audio-visual material and any other material and information supplied by the entrants to ESA as part of the nominations and/or to be used by ESA at the Awards Ceremony and/or in publicity materials produced in relation to the ESA Awards.
Entrants must further ensure that the use of any such material and information by ESA for promotional purposes in connection with the ESA Awards shall not in any way be unlawful or contrary to any applicable laws, regulations, codes of conduct and industry guidelines (including all applicable advertising laws, regulations and codes of conduct and guidelines) and shall not infringe the rights of any third parties or defame or be libellous of any third party. ESA shall not be responsible for obtaining any and all such clearances, and the entrant shall indemnify ESA and its directors, officers, agents and suppliers against any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including but not limited to legal costs) suffered or incurred by any of them arising from any failure to comply with this obligation. ESA retains the right not to accept any entries that do not comply with this paragraph.
By submitting their nominations, entrants confirm that, with the exception of any confidential financial details of sponsorship projects, ESA may use all information contained within the entry form for publicity and promotional purposes of any nature – including as part of future case studies or as examples of best practice in training and education events, whether before, during, or after the Awards, and without any need for further clearance or approval or the grant of further rights from any third party. Furthermore by submitting their nominations and any accompanying materials, entrants confirm their agreement to waive any and all moral rights in any such materials.
Judging
An independent judging panel will be selected and overseen by ESA, with all entries processed by ESA. Entries will be judged solely on the information given in the entry form, and any permitted supporting material. No additional supporting material will be considered by the judges. The judges retain the right in their discretion to split or merge the categories and to move entries between categories if required.
Marks will be awarded according to the Guidelines and Mark Scheme specified within the entry form, with the judges retaining the right to deduct marks for any lack of the requested information e.g. financial, or for entries that are not tailored to the particular category. The judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into with entrants.
The ESA Awards Committee reserves the right to remove categories where entries do not meet the standard for nomination. These entries will not be refunded as they will have been judged accordingly.
Entrants
Entrants agree to appoint a representative or representatives to attend the ESA Awards Ceremony in London, England on 11 March 2027.
It is a condition of entry that photos of winning entrants’ representatives may be used by ESA for press and publicity purposes in connection with the Awards. Entrants shall ensure that their representatives consent to this.
Cancellation
ESA reserves the right to cancel or postpone the Awards at any stage. In the event of cancellation of the Awards, entry fees and ceremony ticket payments received by ESA will be refunded in full. In the event that the Awards are staged online, entry fees will not be refunded but payments for ceremony tickets will be refunded in full. In all other circumstances (including postponement of the Awards ceremony) entry fees and payments for ceremony tickets are non-refundable. ESA shall not be liable in respect of any costs or consequential losses suffered or incurred by entrants as a result of such a cancellation or postponement.
In the event that ESA postpones the Awards ceremony, tickets that have already been bought will be valid for the postponed Awards ceremony but payments for such tickets will not be refunded if you are unable to attend the Awards ceremony for whatever reason.
The pandemic required changes to be made to the ESA Awards. Further unforeseen circumstances may arise. Where required, ESA may be required to make additional changes to the judging or awards process and reserves the right to do so.
Entry payment
All entry payment is to be made online as directed – ESA is unable to raise invoices for entries.
By accepting these Rules of Entry on your entry form, you agree that:
- the entire entry form may be shared with the ESA Awards judges
- your Entry Summary and Composite Image may be included on the sponsorship.org website and ESA app if your entry is shortlisted or you have entered ESA Best of Europe
- your social media may be referenced in ESA’s social posts e.g. LinkedIn
- your Composite Image may be shown on screen during the ESA Awards ceremony and on ESA social media
- if provided, selected slides from your 6-slide PDF (not your Entry Presentation Video slides) may be shown on screen during the ESA Awards ceremony
- if provided, your Short Video (not your Entry Presentation Video) may be shown on screen during the ESA Awards ceremony and in the editing of marketing content promoting the sponsorship industry via ESA’s official channels
- ESA may draft a case study of your entry for your approval if you win an award (this does not apply to entries in the Agency of the Year or Rights Holder of the Year categories)
- your entry can be anonymised and used to help build a sponsorship effectiveness model for the industry
- ESA may contact you by email or phone regarding tickets for the ESA Awards celebration in London on Thursday 11 March 2027
- you are happy to hear from ESA Awards partners
- ESA may send you details of future Awards on a mailing list that you can unsubscribe from at any time
- you would like to hear more from ESA about its events by e-mail.
All enquiries
For all enquiries please contact our team.