Ballon d'Or live stream, TV channel for 2022 event as Benzema eyes first Golden Ball trophy

Karim Benzema is expected to be crowned as the best player in the world when the 2022 Ballon d'Or is awarded in Paris, France on October 17.

The Real Madrid striker carried his team to a La Liga and Champions League double in 2021/22, firing in 44 goals across all competitions.

He is expected to win the "Golden Ball" ahead of other world-class players such as Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski among a collection of 30 finalists.

The world's most prestigious individual football award is handed out each year, but this year's format came with a new twist. Starting in 2022, the Ballon d'Or award is recognizing the best player across the previous European club season (in this case 2021/22) and will be held in mid-October. Previously, it had been structured to honour the best player across the calendar year with the ceremony held in late November.

MORE: Ballon d'Or 2022 finalists | Who will win the 2022 Ballon d'Or?

Ballon d'Or live stream, TV channel

A select group of countries will see a local broadcaster pick up the world feed of the Ballon d'Or ceremony.

Below are TV and streaming outlets for a handful of nations:

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

Canada: DAZN will carry the ceremony on its site and YouTube channel.

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

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

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, making it available via the 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 honours called FIFA The Best.awards.

What time is Ballon d'Or 2022?

The 2022 Ballon d'Or ceremony will be held on Monday, October 17 at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. The formal programme will get underway at 8:30 p.m. local time in France.

This year's award will be selected based on a timeline of the 2021/22 European club season, which breaks from the previous award timeline of a full calendar year.

SAVE THE DATE AND SEE YOU IN OCTOBER! 🌕📅

📍 @theatrechatelet - Paris#ballondor pic.twitter.com/k3LtGP5caL

— Ballon d'Or #ballondor (@francefootball) May 24, 2022

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.

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) is thought to be the runaway winner after leading Real Madrid to the La Liga and 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.

MORE: Why Karim Benzema should win the Ballon d'Or

Betting favorites for men's Ballon d'Or 2022

Odds via Sports Interaction (Canada)

How is the Ballon d'Or winner selected?

Media members from around the world submit votes to decide the winner of the Ballon d'Or each year. 

After the controversy surrounding Lionel Messi's victory in 2021, award creators and organizers France Football moved to limit ballots to a voter from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men's world ranking (for the men's Ballon d'Or) and the top 50 nations in the FIFA women's world ranking (for the women's Ballon d'Or). 

The thinking is that this will ensure media voters from countries where football is embedded in the sporting culture with access to matches from leagues and competitions around the world.

Voting criteria issued to this smaller pool of media members was also recently updated to eliminate consideration for overall career performance — this might have been a key factor in Messi's 2021 victory — and instead focus on three main points:

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 under consideration.

MORE: Explaining the Ballon d'Or voting process

Previous Ballon d'Or winners

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.

MORE: All-time Ballon d'Or winners