About the Awards

Now in its ninth iteration, our annual awards recognise recent achievements across the sector and shine a light on our members’ contribution to sport & physical activity and on enterprises embracing the future of sport and innovation. So, make sure you get your entry in to be part of that story. Through the shortlisting process we highlight all that is good and happening in the industry with a wider lens before the overall winner of each category is revealed on the night. There are eleven open categories open for public nomination and two closed categories. The open categories will be decided by an esteemed judging panel comprising a mix of media, PR, and independent sports industry experts.

 

Full category list

Categories for 2026 Awards – Public Entry
1.Best Commercial Partnership in Sport
2.Best Use of Communications platforms in Sport
3.Best Initiative to Promote Women in Sport & Physical Activity
4. Best Initiative to Promote Diversity, Equality, & Inclusivity in Sport & Physical Activity
5.Best Initiative to Promote Disability in Sport & Physical Activity
6.Best Initiative to Promote Sustainability in Sport & Physical Activity
7. Governing Body of the Year
8. Local Sports Partnership of the Year
9. Best New Sports Business of the Year
10. Best Sports Business of the Year
11. KPMG Women in Sport Award

 

Closed categories: decided by the Judging panel

  1. The Jimmy Magee award for Sports Journalist of the year
  2. Outstanding Contribution to Irish Sport
The sport industry in Ireland supports 64,000 jobs, stimulates €3.3 billion in household spending and the total value of sport to the Irish economy (GVA) is €3.7billion. The Irish Sport Industry Awards are intended to recognise and reward excellence in the sporting industry, while simultaneously highlighting the contribution of Sport to Ireland.

The Federation of Irish Sport organises and hosts the awards on an annual basis. The Federation is the representative body for 110 sporting organisations, and works on behalf of its members to create a greater awareness of the importance of Sport across a wide number of areas including business, tourism, health, community, diversity and the economy. The Federation recognises that sport has to be managed, delivered and financed and these Awards showcase those contributions and allow us to say “Thank You” to all those who are involved.
Find out more at www.irishsport.ie

About the Federation of Irish Sport

Established in 2002, the Federation of Irish Sport is the representative organisation for the National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) and Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) in Ireland. The Federation’s membership consists of over 110 NGBs and LSPs from every corner of the country, including the GAA, FAI, IRFU, Swim Ireland and Athletics Ireland. Currently, the Federation’s membership comprises 81 NGBs and 29 LSPs, representing over 12,000 sports clubs nationwide.

The role of the Federation is to speak on behalf of its members and represent their views to the public, while also providing them with a range of services. As governing bodies, the members’ priorities lie with their sport. Therefore, the job of the Federation is to communicate their views regarding the benefits of sport in areas such as personal health/wellbeing, the economy and society as a whole.