Following the example of their club's superstars on the court, Anadolu Efes Istanbul's off-the-court team has become a title-winner, too, taking the Golden Devotion Award at this year's Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Marketing Directors Workshop on Tuesday. Anadolu Efes was rewarded for its #TakeAction project, an initiative against environmental degradation.
The project saw Anadolu Efes launch a significant reforestation program, involving the club's players, supporters and partner +1. A number of activities included the team wearing special playing uniforms depicting the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with the club committing to planting trees in line with the team's success on the court under the motto 'Each Point Means +1Tree'.
New attendance records in the post-pandemic period, especially during the playoffs, allowed Anadolu Efes to reach even more fans with the project, boosted by online and offline activations to further increase engagement.
Ultimately 10 seed balls were donated for each of the 39,261 fans who watched three EuroLeague games at Sinan Erdem Dome, and more seed balls were donated on behalf of other Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup teams who supported the campaign on social media, taking the final total to 579,390 seed balls – enough to reforest an area the size of 600 basketballs courts.
The club also worked alongside partner Wilo to raise awareness about the importance of clean water resources, with the team wearing a specially designed playing uniform for the game against Real Madrid on March 22, World Water Day.
