The UK Sponsorship Awards 2026 released their shortlist this week and we were made-up to find two of our campaigns shortlisted no fewer than five times across the categories.
We’ve had a phenomenal run in winning sports and sports-adjacent clients, as well as taking brands into the sporting arena, over the last few months – with work for Carlsberg, Pepsi, the LTA, IMG, Argos, Rightmove and Paris Saint Germain.
So it was awesome to see Carlsberg’s “Fare Game” campaign up for a trio of awards with consideration for Branded Content, Brand Sponsorship in Football and Best Use of PR.
When we found that 9 in 10 taxi drivers are massive football fans, yet 60% often miss the biggest matches because they’re pretty busy driving us around. It felt like time to give back to these unsuspecting heroes.
Introducing “The Fare Game”, where we surprised 30 taxi drivers in Berlin by booking them for a full 120 minutes so they could kick back and watch the thrilling Germany vs. Portugal game, surrounded by fellow cabbies in a unique Carlsberg drive-in fan park, soaking up every minute of the match.
With Carlsberg 0.0 beers in hand, they cheered on their teams and had an unforgettable night. And yep, Carlsberg of course covered their full fare so they didn’t miss out.
Meantime, our work with The FA is up for Social and Digital Campaign and up for Best Use of a Smaller Budget.
First Time Fans saw the team capture the reactions of fans who had never been to a football match and experienced Wembley for the first time at the same point that Thomas Tuchel took to the pitch for the first time himself. It went on to rack-up over 10 million views.
Elsewhere, our work with Toyota alongside our agency partners is up for Social Purpose, Community or Charity Sponsorship, Grass Roots Sports Sponsorship and Sports Sponsorship (Large Budget) as the brand partnered with the ECB. And our campaigns with Lexus tennis work that saw the brand become the number one most-associated brand with the sport is up for another four awards. It’s in the running for Best Use of Sporting Talent, Sports Sponsorship (Large Budget), Research, Measurement & Evaluation and for the 20/20 Vision Award for Craft.
Properly made-up to see work across our clients in the running for awards beyond the PR industry and the team recognised as being the most creatively effective in the business.
Here’s a summary of those shortlists …
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Social and Digital for The FA
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Smaller Budget for The FA
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Branded Content for Carlsberg
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Brand Sponsorship for Carlsberg
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Use of PR for Carlsberg
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Sporting Talent for Lexus
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Sponsorship (Large Budget) for Lexus
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Measurement & Evaluation for Lexus
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, 20/20 Vision Award for Lexus
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Social Purpose for Toyota
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Grass Roots for Toyota
The Sponsorship Awards 2026: Shortlisted, Sponsorship (Large Budget) for Toyota
