The BBC has officially announced that this year's Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, 13 December 2026, in Salford. The programme will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app, starting at 17:45 GMT.
The show will be hosted by Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott, who will present the event and the awards across nine categories. Among them are two new additions: the Men's Footballer of the Year award and the BBC World Service Women's Footballer of the Year award. Although the latter has been awarded since 2015, it will be included in the main Sports Personality of the Year event for the first time this year.
Of the nine awards, five will be decided by public vote. Fans will choose the winners in the categories of Men's and Women's Footballer of the Year, World Sports Star of the Year, Team of the Year, and Sports Personality of the Year. Voting for the global audience begins on Tuesday, 10 November. An independent panel composed of experts in sports journalism, broadcasting and former athletes will determine shortlists for some of the major awards, while special football panels will compile candidates for the football categories.
This year's programme will also celebrate exceptional sporting achievements, including the most successful performance by a British team at the Winter Olympics, the best placement by the England men's football team at the World Cup since 1966, and record results at the European Athletics Championships. BBC Sport Director Alex Kay-Jelski highlighted the importance of these awards, which celebrate sporting peaks and the contributions of athletes from various disciplines.
The award categories to be presented are: BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the Helen Rollason Award, Young Sports Personality of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Award, Men's Footballer of the Year, Women's Footballer of the Year, and World Sports Star of the Year.
