The BiG Foundation’s first annual BiG Sports Dinner kicked off last night at the magnificent Dorchester Hotel in London. Attendees consisted of online gambling industry operators, service providers, media, sports stars, charity representatives and other sports industry guests.
The night consisted of a champagne welcome reception, three course dinner, celebrity interviews, a raffle, an auction and the presentation of two industry awards sponsored by BetConstruct, “The Best Sports Betting Campaign” that went to Unibet and “The Best Use of Sporting Star in a Betting Campaign” that went to Sportbet.com.au.
Throughout the night guests were entertained by street illusionist Steven McGuinness, the MicrogamingAvalon II Sword in the Stone promo and the presence of sports celebrities such as rugby legend Austin Healey, ex Footballer (and rapper) John Barnes, high jumper Dalton Grant and Italian Wasps players Andrea Masi and Carlo Festuccia.
Guests and sports celebrities were proud to support the five charities behind the event, Meningitis Now, The Lord’s Taverners, The Injured Jockeys Fund, The Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK and Restart Rugby.
Over £12,000 was raised for the above charities from the evening’s raffle and auction hosted by Fabian Hines. Another £2,000 was raised for charity thanks to John Barneswho performed his infamous “World Cup Rap”on stage with the individuals who donated towards the cause.
For those who had the energy, after the dinner’s festivities concluded, all guests were invited to a VIP after party at Mahiki sponsored by Microgaming although as rumor has it, the Fox Club was a popular post dinner destination as well.
Feedback on the evening was overwhelmingly positive, especially considering it was the BiG Foundation’s first event. The organizers are pleased to announce that the second annual BiG Sports Dinner has been scheduled for September 10th, 2015 so there’s an evening to go ahead and block off on your calendar.
