What channel is Ballon d'Or on? Time, TV schedule for 2022 ceremony

The 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony is nearly upon us.

Football's night of nights will honour the very best players over the 2021/22 season. 

Record Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi will notably not be there having failed to be shortlisted as a finalist after an underwhelming debut campaign with PSG. 

With a number of players vying for the title for the first time, the 2022 ceremony looms as one not to miss.

MORE: Benzema guides Real Madrid to El Clasico win

Ballon d'Or TV channel, live stream schedule

USA: Paramount+ is scheduled to stream the event for subscribers in the USA.

Canada: The ceremony will be carried by DAZN on its site and YouTube page.

Australia: SBS will televise and stream the ceremony for fans wanting to watch on from Australia. 

All other regions: The 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony will be available to stream live for free on L'Equipe's YouTube channel and website in most regions.

French publication France Football is the creator and caretaker of the yearly Ballon d'Or award, and thus they are in control of the event's broadcast, using the streaming channels of sister publication L'Equipe.

France Football had a brief partnership with FIFA for the Ballon d'Or between 2010-2015, but that is no longer the case with FIFA launching its own individual awards.

Who are the 2022 Ballon d'Or finalists?

There are 30 players who have been shortlisted for the 2022 men's Ballon d'Or award.

Among the favorites are Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (at Bayern Munich in 2021/22, now at Barcelona), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool).

Benzema is thought to be the runaway winner after leading Real Madrid to the La Liga and UEFA Champions League double, while earning top scorer honors in both competitions.

There are 20 nominees for the women's award, including three players from Euro 2022 champions England, three Americans, Australian star Sam Kerr, and 2021 winner Alexia Putellas.

Betting favorites for men's Ballon d'Or 2022

Odds via Sports Interaction (Canada)

How is the Ballon d'Or winner selected?

Players, coaches and journalists all submit votes to decide the winner of the Ballon d'Or each year. 

Prior to 2007, only journalists were allowed to vote before coaches and captains of national teams were also invited to have their say. 

Voting criteria were recently updated to eliminate consideration for overall career performance and instead focus on three main factors:

1. Individual performance in previous season (no longer by calendar year);
2. Team success during the previous season;
3. Player behavior and fair play during the season in consideration.

🔝1️⃣0️⃣ Throwback

Take a look at the 2021 Ballon d'Or ranking!#ballondor pic.twitter.com/LnfwIzUPwG

— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) October 16, 2022

Most Ballon d'Or wins

The player with the most Ballon d'Or awards all-time is Lionel Messi who has won it seven times. Behind him is Messi's long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo with five Ballon d'Or awards. Only 10 players all-time have claimed multiple Ballon d'Or awards.

Messi is the most recent Ballon d'Or winner after taking home the award in 2021 ahead of Robert Lewandowski. 

The honour wasn't given out in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Messi also winning the award in 2019 after he edged out Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk by just seven votes.