Overview The Sportsperson of the Year Awards is the private ceremony where Sports Illustrated hands out its oldest honor alongside a slate of newer ones, and Wynn Las Vegas hosted the ceremonies for the 2024 and 2025 awards, where Simone Biles and then Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took the main trophy. The magazine first named a Sportsperson of the Year in 1954, for the athlete or team that best represents 'in character and performance, the ideals of sportsmanship'. The ceremony also carries the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award, Innovator of the Year, Breakout Star of the Year and SportsKid of the Year. On site The ceremony falls in the first week of January, for the year just finished. Guests arrive down a red carpet before the awards program. SI published the 2025 ceremony as a 47-minute broadcast, and the magazine says the franchise's broadcast reaches more than 5 million viewers worldwide. Audience Tickets are not sold to the public. The listing describes an invited room of athletes, celebrities, executives and media figures, there to see the honorees collect their awards in person. Talent and Influencers Keegan-Michael Key hosted the January 2025 ceremony for the 2024 awards, when the Innovator of the Year award was introduced. For 2025, Michael Phelps received the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award for his mental health work, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier were named Innovators of the Year for co-founding Unrivaled, Cal Raleigh took Breakout Star of the Year after 60 home runs, and Chyna Taylor was SportsKid of the Year. Past Sportspersons include Serena Williams, LeBron James, Tom Brady, Stephen Curry and Deion Sanders. Track record Sports Illustrated put the 2024 awards at $90.2 million in advertising value. Brand presence Wynn Las Vegas was named the official home of the awards for the January 2025 ceremony. That year AFEELA, the Sony Honda Mobility car brand, was presenting partner, with Verizon also on board. A brand can take presenting rights to the night, present an individual award on stage, fund custom branded content or commercials, buy host mentions and product integration, run print and digital programs with the magazine, or take VIP tickets.