Who decides the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist?
- Published
The BBC's Sports Personality of the Year recognises outstanding sporting performances across another unforgettable 12 months.
Eight awards are handed out - including the main prize, for which there are six contenders: England footballers Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly, England rugby union player Ellie Kildunne, darts world champion Luke Littler, golfer Rory McIlroy and F1 driver Lando Norris.
Who decides the SPOTY shortlist?
Six athletes have been shortlisted for the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award
A panel of 12 sport industry experts is invited by the Director of BBC Sport - Alex Kay-Jelski - following discussions with his senior team.
The panel aims to represent a wide range of stakeholders from the world of sport, including former sportspeople, sports journalists from UK publications, and sports industry representatives.
The shortlisting panel for this year's awards included 2014 Rugby World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi, former England and professional footballer, Anita Asante, double Paralympic gold medal-winning sprinter Libby Clegg, former world champion boxer Carl Frampton and 2009 World Cup winning cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent.
Media personality and sports presenter Josh Denzel, sports broadcaster and Match of the Day co-host, Kelly Cates, chief sports feature writer for the Daily Mail, Riath Al-Samarrai and sports reporter for The Times, Molly Hudson were also on panel.
BBC Sport aims for an even split of men and women, with expertise covering a wide range of sports, including Para-sport.
Where possible, there are panel members from each UK nation: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Panel members change every year.
The BBC is represented on the panel by Kay-Jelski, head of content, Philip Bernie, and executive producer, Marc Vesty.
How is the SPOTY award shortlist drawn up?
Keely Hodgkinson and Luke Littler came first and second in 2024
The panel meets in person to decide the shortlist for the main prize and the World Sport Star award, and also to decide the winner of Team and Coach of the Year.
The BBC Sports Personality production team provides extensive background information to the panellists on the top sportspeople of the year and their achievements.
Panellists are free to put forward any other potential candidates not covered in the briefing.
The shortlist is decided through discussion led by Kay-Jelski as the panel chairperson.
In the event of a consensus not being reached on certain candidates, the panel may be asked to vote. In the event of a tie, the chairperson makes the final decision.
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Are the decisions based on any criteria?
Yes.
By way of an example, the panellists select the shortlist for the main award using the following criteria:
Reflected UK sporting achievements on the national and/or international stage;
Represented the breadth and depth of UK sports; and
Took into account 'impact' of the person's sporting achievement beyond the sport in question.
Panellists are provided with - and reminded of - these criteria before and during the shortlisting process.
The shortlist for the main award aims to reflect the breadth and depth of sport in the UK.
Has the process always been the same?
The shortlisting process for Sports Personality underwent significant change after 2011.
That year, there was controversy when an all-male shortlist was announced, drawing criticism from some sportspeople.
Sports editors from newspapers and magazines across the UK had been previously asked to put forward their top 10 selections to the BBC. These were made available publicly.
After 2011, there was consensus that the BBC should have more control in the shortlisting process. In 2012, the BBC introduced an expert industry panel.