BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2026 will be shown live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in December, but the BBC has not confirmed the date yet. Reports point to either Tuesday 15 December or Friday 18 December; until the BBC announces it, neither is safe to plan around. The last three ceremonies were held on 19 December 2023, 17 December 2024 and 18 December 2025, all at dock10 studios in Salford.
Sports Personality of the Year 2026: Date, TV, Voting and Past Winners
Last checked: 17 October 2026. We will add the date, the presenters and the shortlist as soon as the BBC confirms them.
When is SPOTY 2026 on, and who presents it?
What we know for certain is the channel: the show goes out live on BBC One and streams on iPlayer. Everything else is still to be announced.
| Detail | 2026 | 2025 for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Not confirmed (December) | Thursday 18 December |
| Time | Not confirmed | 7pm to 9pm |
| Venue | Not confirmed | dock10 studios, MediaCity, Salford |
| Presenters | Not confirmed | Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott |
| Channel | BBC One and iPlayer | BBC One and iPlayer |
Balding, Logan and Scott have fronted the last two shows together, with Gary Lineker joining them in 2023. If the pattern holds the 2026 show lands in the week before Christmas, which is when the BBC’s Christmas TV schedules start filling up too.
How the shortlist and the public vote work
The process has two stages, and only the second one is yours.
The shortlist. A panel of former athletes, broadcasters, journalists and BBC Sport bosses picks the nominees. In 2025 there were six, revealed on BBC Breakfast on 11 December, a week before the ceremony. Expect the 2026 list in early to mid December.
The vote. It is now online only. In September 2025 the BBC scrapped premium-rate phone voting across its shows, calling the system outdated and too expensive to run, so you need a BBC account to take part. Voting for the main award opens during the live programme. In 2025 it was paused halfway through, the six nominees were cut to three, and then it reopened before the winner was read out. The BBC did not publish the vote totals.
That last point is worth knowing. You will not find out how close it was, only the top three.
The other awards on the night
The main trophy is the one people search for, but most of the two hours goes on these:
- Team of the Year: public vote for the first time in 2025. Europe’s Ryder Cup side won.
- Coach of the Year: Sarina Wiegman won in 2025 after England retained the Euros.
- World Sport Star of the Year: for non-British stars. Armand Duplantis won it in 2024 and 2025.
- Young Sports Personality of the Year: chosen by a panel. Michelle Agyemang won in 2025; nominees had to be 18 or under on 1 January that year.
- Helen Rollason Award: for courage in the face of adversity, chosen by a panel.
- Lifetime Achievement: Thierry Henry in 2025.
- Unsung Hero: for grassroots volunteers. It was not given out in 2025, the first gap since 2003.
Who has a case in 2026?
This is not a prediction, and the BBC’s panel has named nobody. It is a list of British athletes who have won something big this year, all checked against match and race reports:
- Matt Weston won men’s skeleton gold at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on 13 February, then mixed team gold with Tabitha Stoecker two days later. That made him the first Briton to win two golds at one Winter Games.
- Luke Littler kept his world darts title on 3 January, beating Gian van Veen 7-1 in the final. He has been on the shortlist twice and came second in 2024. Follow his year on our darts on TV page.
- Rory McIlroy won the Masters again in April, the first back-to-back champion since Tiger Woods. He would be defending the award.
- Amy Hunt won four golds at the European Championships in Birmingham in August (100m, 200m, the 4x100m and the mixed 4x100m), a record for one championships.
- Josh Kerr broke the men’s mile world record at the London Diamond League on 18 July, running 3:42.66 and ending a record that had stood since 1999.
- Keely Hodgkinson, the 2024 winner, set an indoor 800m world record of 1:54.87 in February.
- Saffie Osborne became the first female jockey to win a British Classic when Highwayman took the St Leger on 12 September. Our horse racing on TV page shows what racing is on TV today.
For Team of the Year, England’s men finished third at the World Cup, beating France 6-4 in the play-off in July. Our honest view is that this is the most open field in years, because no single British name has dominated 2026 the way McIlroy owned 2025.
There are still big events to come before December. Keep up with them on sport on TV today.
Past winners
| Year | Winner | Sport | The year in one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Rory McIlroy | Golf | Career Grand Slam at the Masters, then the Ryder Cup |
| 2024 | Keely Hodgkinson | Athletics | Olympic 800m champion in Paris |
| 2023 | Mary Earps | Football | Golden Glove at the Women’s World Cup |
| 2022 | Beth Mead | Football | Top scorer as England won Euro 2022 |
| 2021 | Emma Raducanu | Tennis | US Open champion as a qualifier |
| 2020 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One | Seventh world title |
| 2019 | Ben Stokes | Cricket | World Cup final and Headingley |
| 2018 | Geraint Thomas | Cycling | Tour de France winner |
| 2017 | Mo Farah | Athletics | World 10,000m champion in London |
| 2016 | Andy Murray | Tennis | Second Wimbledon and second Olympic gold |
| 2015 | Andy Murray | Tennis | Led Britain to the Davis Cup |
| 2014 | Lewis Hamilton | Formula One | First Mercedes world title |
| 2013 | Andy Murray | Tennis | First British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years |
| 2012 | Bradley Wiggins | Cycling | Tour de France and Olympic time trial gold |
| 2011 | Mark Cavendish | Cycling | World road race champion |
Runners-up in the last three years: Ellie Kildunne (2025), Luke Littler (2024) and Stuart Broad (2023).
SPOTY records worth knowing
- The award started in 1954. Christopher Chataway won the first one, ahead of Roger Bannister.
- Andy Murray is the only three-time winner and the only person to win in consecutive years.
- Athletics has produced more winners than any other sport.
- The youngest winner is swimmer Ian Black, aged 17 in 1958.
- Torvill and Dean (1984) are the only pair to win the main award.
- Princess Anne (1971) and her daughter Zara Phillips (2006) are the only family members to have both won.
- McIlroy was only the third golfer to win, after Dai Rees in 1957 and Nick Faldo in 1989.
Frequently asked questions
When is Sports Personality of the Year 2026 on TV?
In December, live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The BBC has not announced the 2026 date yet. Some reports say Tuesday 15 December and others 18 December, so treat both as unconfirmed. The last three shows aired on 19 December 2023, 17 December 2024 and 18 December 2025.
Where is Sports Personality of the Year held?
The 2023, 2024 and 2025 shows all came from dock10 studios at MediaCity in Salford. The BBC has not confirmed the 2026 venue.
How do you vote for Sports Personality of the Year?
Online, with a BBC account. The BBC dropped premium-rate phone voting in September 2025, so the 2025 vote was online only. Voting for the main award opens and closes during the live show, and the presenters tell you when.
When is the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist announced?
About a week before the show. In 2025 the six-name shortlist, picked by a panel of experts, was revealed on BBC Breakfast on 11 December, a week before the ceremony. The 2026 shortlist has not been announced.
Who won Sports Personality of the Year 2025?
Rory McIlroy, after completing golf’s career Grand Slam at the Masters and helping Europe win the Ryder Cup. Ellie Kildunne was second and Lando Norris third.
Who has won Sports Personality of the Year the most times?
Andy Murray, with three wins in 2013, 2015 and 2016. He is the only person to win it three times and the only one to win it in back-to-back years.
What other awards are given out at Sports Personality of the Year?
Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, World Sport Star of the Year, Young Sports Personality of the Year, the Helen Rollason Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award and, in most years, the Unsung Hero Award. In 2025 there was no Unsung Hero winner for the first time since 2003.
