Nickelodeon today announced that it is launching a new sports award program voted on by kids, “Kids Choice Sports 2014,” which will be hosted and executive produced by Michael Strahan. The “Kids Choice Sports 2014” will air live from UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on July 17 and will honor kids’ favorite athletes, teams and sports moments. Similar to Nickelodeon’s 26-year-old entertainment awards show “Kids Choice Awards,” presenters and award winners are expected to be "slimed" during the show. Strahan, who is the co-owner of entertainment management, branding and production company SMAC Entertainment, this morning announced the new awards show on “Live with Kelly and Michael,” which he co-hosts. “Our goal and hope is that this will be like the Super Bowl for kids, like that big of an event when it comes to sports,” Strahan said in a telephone interview. “And hopefully it only grows like all the major sporting events have over the years.” Nickelodeon and SMAC Entertainment have put together a “sports council” of high-profile former athletes, league execs and prominent sports and entertainment agents to lend sports expertise and help to create the categories for the show. The members of the committee include NFL VP/Entertainment Marketing & Promotions Tracy Perlman, NBA VP/Talent Relations Leah Wilcox, CAA sports broadcast agent Andy Elkin, Excel Sports Management President & Founder Jeff Schwartz, WME Senior VP Jill Smoller and IMG Senior VP Alan Zucker. Former athletes on the committee include Baron Davis, Ken Griffey Jr., Lisa Leslie, Cal Ripken Jr., Deion Sanders and Misty May-Treanor. Nickelodeon Group President Cyma Zarghami would not say if Nickelodeon was committed to broadcasting “Kids’ Choice Sports” after this year, but in an e-mail wrote, “We think this is an idea that has a lot of potential. Our ‘Kids’ Choice Awards’ are always one of the most highly anticipated and most-watched events of the year, and we hope to be celebrating our 27th year of ‘Kids’ Choice Sports’ down the road.”
