Ryder Cup Europe has been named Team of the Year at the prestigious FEVO Sport Industry Awards, that took place in London on April 25.
Regarded as the pre-eminent awards ceremony for the sports industry in the United Kingdom, Team Europe fought off stiff competition to claim the honour. Its fellow nominees were a treble winning Manchester City FC, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, the England women’s cricket team, the England women’s Red Roses rugby team, and the 11th Hour Racing Team.
After a heavy loss to the United States at Whistling Straits in 2021, Team Europe were underdogs heading into Rome 2023. But under the stewardship of Captain Luke Donald, several innovations helped turn the tide and led to a memorable 16.5-11.5 victory at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. This included a range of team-building initiatives to create a strong culture, and the pioneering use of data to support key decisions such as pairings and picks. The judges – comprising a panel of sports industry experts – pointed to these in their winner’s citation.
The award not only acknowledged the 12 players inside the ropes, but also the over 200 full time staff at Ryder Cup Europe – part of the European Tour Group – who worked tirelessly to deliver an event that broke all previous fan engagement and commercial records, with 271,000 spectators descending on Rome during Ryder Cup week.
This is the second time that the Ryder Cup has tasted victory at the event, after winning Event of the Year in 2019 for the Paris match in 2018.
Speaking about the accolade, Guy Kinnings, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the European Tour Group and the Executive Director of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, said: “This award acknowledges the gladiators we had inside the ropes who produced remarkable golf to win back the Ryder Cup trophy, under Luke Donald’s exceptional leadership as Captain.
“But crucially, it also acknowledges the word-class team we have outside the ropes supporting them. They built from scratch a well-rounded entertainment spectacular that has set a new benchmark for what golf’s greatest team contest can be. A big thank you to the judges and the Sport Industry Group for this honour.”
