BBC Sports Personality of the Year to be put out to competitive tender

An invitation to tender for BBC Sports Personality of the Year will be published in February 2019; it will include all event management and production of the main show on BBC One in 2019, 2020 and 2021 with an option for a two year extension at the BBC’s discretion.

BBC Sport will invite pitches from all producers and a full list of eligibility criteria and requirements for the shows will be openly shared with all suppliers. The programme will continue to be shown on the BBC, and we will retain all Intellectual Property rights. The tendering process will decide which supplier makes the programme.

BBC Sport's tendering of Sports Personality of the Year forms part of the Compete or Compare strategy launched by the BBC in 2014, which underlined the BBC’s commitment to commission the best programmes for audiences, regardless of who makes them. The BBC will be releasing further opportunities to the market over the autumn, some of these will be further tenders for existing series, some will be specific invitations to pitch for new shows with a clear purpose, and others will be open to competition for the best ideas as part of the normal commissioning process.

The requirements for each tender are communicated at the time of publication, with enough time for suppliers to do appropriate research and preparation.

GS