Sports Personality of the Year returns - with five awards decided by public

The 2026 BBC Sports Personality of the Year show will be held on Sunday, 13 December - with five winners decided by public votes.

Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott will again host the programme, which will be hosted in Salford and broadcast live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 17:45 GMT.

Five of the nine awards to be presented on the night will be decided by public vote.

The show will celebrate another great year of sport, including Team GB's most successful Winter Olympics, England's best finish at a men's Fifa World Cup since 1966, and record-breaking displays at the European Athletics Championships.

There will be two new award categories at the ceremony this year - Men's Footballer of the Year and BBC World Service Women's Footballer of the Year.

The latter has been a BBC World Service award since 2015 but will now be presented as part of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards for the first time. Voting - for global audiences - opens on Tuesday, 10 November.

In addition to crowning the winners of both football awards, fans will also select the winners of the World Sport Star of the Year, Team of the Year and Sports Personality of the Year award itself.

An independent panel made up of industry experts, sports broadcasters, sports journalists and former sportspeople will determine the shortlists for the Sports Personality of the Year, Team of the Year and World Sports Star awards, with the winners chosen by public votes. The independent panel will also determine the winners of Young Sports Personality of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Separate panels of football experts will provide the shortlist of contenders for Men's Footballer of the Year and Women's Footballer of the Year.

Alex Kay-Jelski - director of BBC Sport - said: "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."

The nine award categories are:

• BBC Sports Personality of the Year

• 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

• World Sport Star of the Year

Full voting details, dates and T&Cs will be announced in due course.