Sports Personality of the Year 2026: Date announced – and audience to have more influence than ever

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year event for 2026 is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 13 December. This year, public voting will determine the winners of five out of the nine awards to be presented during the ceremony. Clare Balding, Gabby Logan, and Alex Scott will return as hosts for the show, which will be broadcast live from Salford on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app starting at 17:45 GMT.

Celebrating a remarkable year in sports, the event will highlight notable achievements such as Team GB’s most successful Winter Olympics performance, England’s best men’s FIFA World Cup result since 1966, and record-breaking efforts at the European Athletics Championships. Two fresh categories have been introduced this year: Men’s Footballer of the Year and BBC World Service Women’s Footballer of the Year. While the women’s football award has been presented by the BBC World Service since 2015, this will mark its inaugural inclusion in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year ceremony. Voting for this category, catering to a global audience, will open on Tuesday, 10 November.

The winners of the Men’s and Women’s Footballer of the Year awards, along with the World Sport Star of the Year, Team of the Year, and the overall Sports Personality of the Year, will be decided by public vote. Shortlists for the main awards—including Sports Personality of the Year, Team of the Year, and World Sports Star—will be created by an independent panel comprising industry experts, sports broadcasters, journalists, and former athletes. This same panel will also select the recipients of the Young Sports Personality of the Year and Coach of the Year awards. Separate groups of football specialists will curate the nominees for the football-specific honours.

Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport, reflected on the essence of the event, stating, “What I love about BBC Sports Personality of the Year is that it brings together all those moments that stopped us in our tracks. The goals, the medals, the upsets, the records, the stories that had us talking at work, in the pub and around the dinner table. And what a year we’ve had. This year’s shortlists will be packed with athletes and teams who have achieved extraordinary things, but what’s especially exciting is that audiences will have a bigger say than ever before in who takes home the trophies.” Details regarding voting procedures, important dates, and terms and conditions will be provided in due course