Sports Illustrated, Time Inc. Productions To Produce First Nat’l Telecast of SI’s ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ Awards

Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated and Time Inc. Productions will produce the first national telecast of the annual Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year awards. The awards show, which was previously only available for viewing online, will air as a one-hour special Friday, December 8 at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN. The event will be held for the second consecutive year at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on Tuesday, December 5.

“When the biggest and most inspiring names in sports come together for SI’s Sportsperson of the Year, there is a uniquely emotional and electric dynamic in the room,” says ChrisStone, Editor in Chief of Time Inc.’s Sports Illustrated Group. “People leave the event feeling like they’ve experienced something exceptional and rare. We made the decision to produce the show because television is uniquely positioned to capture that emotion and electricity, and NBCSN is the perfect broadcast partner for the first nationally televised SI Sportsperson of the Year award show.”

Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year has been presented annually since 1954, the year the brand’s magazine launched. The honor is given to the athlete, coach, or team who best represents the sprit of sportsmanship and achievement, as well as inspires others both on and off the field.

SI’s Sportsperson of the Year event will present honors in six categories: SI Sportsperson of the Year, SI Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, SI Kids SportsKid of the Year, Rising Star, Performance of the Year and the Hope award. Past SI Sportsperson of the Year recipients have included LeBron James, Serena Williams, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Billie Jean King, Michael Phelps and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team.

“Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year is a great addition to our programming lineup,” says Gary Quinn, Vice President, Programming and Owned Properties. “NBC Sports is committed to telling the stories of athletes, so we are excited to work with SPORTS ILLUSTRATED to showcase the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement.”

The telecast is being produced by Time Inc. Productions, the company’s television production division, which has tapped JASH, a Group Nine company, to co-produce. Highly regarded producers Robert Morton and Daniel Kellison will serve as executive producers. Executive producers from Time Inc. are Steve Cannella, Ian Orefice and Josh Oshinsky.

NBCSN will air an encore presentation of Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year Sunday, December 10 at 10 p.m. ET and Tuesday, December 12 at 11:30 p.m. ET.