Sela, a pioneering destination and experiences organisation, has been the club's front-of-shirt partner since 2023. In the first year of this ground-breaking partnership, Sela used its expertise to redefine fan experiences through a series of unforgettable partnership activations, including groundbreaking haptic shirts for the deaf community and spectacular large-scale immersive displays.
The partnership was recognised with a total of 72 awards across the globe in 2024, spanning an array of categories including sports, experiential, equality and diversity, innovation, creative and fan engagement.
Industry recognition included the prestigious President's Award and Grand Prix titles at The Drum Awards in London, as well as a further 32 gold awards across other awards ceremonies.
The partnership also won the coveted 'Brand of the Year' at the Shorty Impact Awards in Los Angeles, Best Fan Solution at Leaders Sports Awards, Best Fan Engagement at Clio Sports in New York and Sports Technology of the Year at the Sports Business Awards in London.
Meanwhile, the partnership received an Honour for Innovation in Football from the World Football Summit in Riyadh, adding to a Football Technology Award at the Social Football Summit in Rome.
Peter Silverstone, Chief Commercial Officer at Newcastle United, said: "We are incredibly proud of our partnership with Sela. Our work together has enabled us to engage, inspire and connect with different communities locally and globally, transcending football along the way.
"These awards underline the creativity, innovation and effectiveness of our partnership, not just in comparison to football and other sports, but up against the most admired and high-profile commercial partnerships anywhere in the world.
"Sela has proved to be much more than a brand on the front of our shirt. Creating the unforgettable and the Spectacular, Sela has led the way in showing brands how to build connections that are deep and meaningful, both with fans and wider audiences.
"On behalf of Newcastle United and our supporters, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Sela and their incredible team, for delivering such creativity, dedication and passion for the club and our city."
Ibrahim Mohtaseb, Managing Director of Sela International, said: "It's truly an honour to receive such global recognition for the first year of our partnership with Newcastle United.
"Sela is all about redefining fan experiences and we put this at the heart of the events we're proud to deliver around the world - whether in sport, entertainment or other forms of culture. For that to be possible, we listen to the communities in which we operate and that’s been a big part of our partnership with Newcastle United as a club and the brilliant people in the city and fans globally.
"Now we're enjoying our second season as front of shirt partner and the opportunity to showcase internationally what we're all about as a creator of live experiences."
Newcastle United and Sela's groundbreaking initiative, Unsilence the Crowd, reimagined the way fans who are deaf or have hearing loss experience the famous atmosphere at St. James' Park. Using cutting-edge technology, Sela developed a world-first: the Sela Sound Shirt, a replica Newcastle United shirt woven with intelligent sensors that uses haptic technology to translate crowd noise into a complex "physical language" felt on the wearer's upper body.
The revolutionary campaign was awarded a range of awards including the Experiential Grand Prix at The Drum Awards, three Golds at the Clio Sports Awards and the award for Fan Solution at the Leaders in Sport Awards. Available for every Newcastle United home game, the technology's impact has also expanded beyond the UK, having been used at this year's Italian and Spanish Super Cup Finals.
Newcastle United and Sela were also recognised with numerous awards for We're Back, a visual spectacular above St. James' Park that used 500+ illuminated drones to celebrate the club's historic return to the UEFA Champions League. We Are One, a first-of-its-kind 3D-projection mapping show onto the iconic Baltic building and the River Tyne in Newcastle, also received a number of awards.
