As per Fightful, WWE have won the prestigious SPORTEL award for their innovative WWE ThunderDome creation.
Nominated and successful in the Virtual Fan Experience category with the board that recognises the best in sports video production, the WWE ThunderDome has been situated in the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, since August.
Fightful were granted a press release from The Famous Group, the company working with WWE on the ThunderDome concept, speaking about their involvement with the promotion and the award it snagged.
The Famous Group (TFG) took home two honors at the SPORTEL Awards, the prestigious international competition held each year in Monaco recognizing the best in sports photography, videography and graphical presentation.
Mathieu Zagrodzki, the company’s Director of Business Development for Europe, was on hand to accept the awards – the Promotion Programme Prize for “Boston Celtics Deadly Challenges” and the Digital Prize for “WWE ThunderDome – Virtual Fan Experience.” The Famous Group was nominated alongside companies such as NBC Sports Group, Onion TV, Hurricane Creative and Kiswe Mobile in their categories.
“We are so incredibly honored to be recognized with two SPORTEL Awards,” said TFG Executive Vice President Andrew Isaacson. “While it’s humbling to have our work selected as the best among so many outstanding organizations in each category, the true reward for us comes in knowing that our clients are successful in reaching their goals.
“We’re thankful to be able to work with organizations like the Boston Celtics and WWE, among many others, and their passion to be the best at what they do only further motivates us to push the boundaries. None of this would be possible without the amazing partners that we’re fortunate to work with, making us look good along the way.”
The Boston Celtics Deadly Challenges campaign was a VFX driven collaboration with the legendary NBA franchise that thrusts star players into a futuristic virtual world where they must use their skills to overcome other worldly challenges.
For WWE ThunderDome, after World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) developed the concept for the look and feel of the ThunderDome, The Famous Group worked alongside WWE to create a live virtual fan experience that has never been seen before, bringing fans into the arena for multiple events even when they couldn’t be there physically due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H Prince Albert II, the SPORTEL Awards are held every year as part of the SPORTEL Monaco convention, the world’s leading Sports Content Media Rights and Technology Convention. This event is first and foremost an international competition that rewards the most outstanding sports footages of the year, during a ceremony open and free to the public.
Though the partnership is set to carry on through November, Inside the Ropes recently reported that WWE are setting their sights elsewhere in order to stage Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and their pay-per-view events from December onwards.
As reported by WrestleVotes, three venues in three different cities are currently being discussed to replace the Amway Center but nothing has been decided at time of writing.
WWE ThunderDome was created as a the ultimate virtual fan experience after the promotion moved to the Amway Center following a long stint holding television tapings and pay-per-view events at the WWE Performance Center.
Bringing fans around the world together on a board of screens, the ThunderDome allows the company to have that fan interaction their product sorely lacked from March to August until people are allowed back into arenas once COVID-19 is under control.
Inside the Ropes sends it’s congratulations to WWE on this momentous achievement.
Credit for the report: Fightful