BBC Sports Personality awards to come to Liverpool

Feb 22 2008

Echo Arena

THE BBC Sports Personality of the Year is coming to Liverpool this year, it was announced this morning.

Last month the Daily Post exclusively revealed the Echo Arena was bidding to host the prestigious event.

The Kings Dock venue will host the star-studded show on December 14 about a month after MTV Europe awards are held at the arena.

Last year almost 9m people tuned into watch boxer Joe Calzaghe beat fellow fighter Ricky Hatton and Formula One ace Lewis Hamilton to the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award.

The event will be broadcast live on BBC One with ticketing arrangements to be announced nearer the time.

Tickets for the two previous shows in Birmingham sold out within three hours.

Roger Mosey, BBC Director of Sport, said: “It feels right to be taking Sports Personality Of The Year to the great sporting city of Liverpool, and it’s particularly exciting to be part of the Capital of Culture events.

“We’ve had a great time in Birmingham in the past two years and we’d love to go back there in future, but this shows our commitment to taking the event to venues outside London and to allowing as many people as possible to see their sporting heroes.”

Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) Liverpool Chief Executive Bob Prattey said: “This is a major achievement for the city of Liverpool and for our venue.

“It is entirely fitting that a city with such an illustrious sporting history and pedigree should host these awards during its year as European Capital of Culture.”

Echo Arena General Manager Tim Banfield added: “We are delighted to be hosting this year’s awards ceremony, which will bring invaluable exposure to Liverpool at a time when the city is going through an unprecedented period of renaissance.

“The Echo Arena is at the heart of this renaissance and is arguably the finest venue of its kind in the UK, if not Europe.”