Do you dream of calling the next big play? Think you’ve got the voice and the energy of a real sportscaster? Then get ready for the ABC7 Chicago Junior Sportscaster Contest!
We solicited videos from aspiring sports anchors between the ages of 5 to 12, who were ready to step up to the mic and show us their play-by-play skills.
We selected 10 finalists, and now it’s your turn to vote on the winner. That lucky contestant will win the chance to record a sportscast in our studio for one of our newscasts with our sports anchor Ryan Chiaverini.
Entries feature commentary on recent Chicago games but do not include any game footage or music.
Watch the entries below to vote for your favorite.
Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
Anita from Chicago
Anita from Chicago
Ari from Skokie
Ari from Skokie
Brayden from Chicago
Brayden from Chicago
Charlie from Aurora
Charlie from Aurora
Devyn from Olympia Fields
Devyn from Olympia Fields
Drake from Homer Glen
Drake from Homer Glen
Johnny from Posen
Johnny from Posen
Kiwi from Chicago
Kiwi from Chicago
Matthew from Chicago
Matthew from Chicago
West from Chicago
West from Chicago
Full contest rules and eligibility requirements are listed below.
WLS Junior Sportscaster Contest Rules
I. NAME OF SPONSOR(S)
ABC 7 Chicago and WLS Television, Inc (Hereinafter collectively referred to as “Sponsor”).
II. ELIGIBILITY
Open only to legal residents of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin; entrant must be a parent or legal guardian 18 years of age or older and must reside in one of the following counties: in Illinois – Lake, McHenry, DeKalb, Kane, DuPage, Cook, Kendall, Wil, Grundy, Kankakee, La Salle; in Indiana – Lake, Porter, La Porte, Newton, Jasper; and in Wisconsin – Kenosha, Walworth, Racine.
Any individuals (including but not limited to employees, consultants, independent contractors, and interns) who have, within the past six months, performed services for ABC 7 Chicago and WLS Television, Inc. or any organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the contest or supplying the prize, and/or their respective parent, subsidiary, affiliated and successor companies, and immediate family and household members of such individuals, are not eligible to enter or participate. “Immediate family members” shall mean parents, step-parents, children, step-children, siblings, step-siblings, or spouses. “Household members” shall mean people who share the same residence at least three months a year.
Entrant must be a parent or legal guardian of child 5-12 years of age. Submissions from entrants intended for children 5-12 years of age.
III. HOW AND WHEN TO ENTER
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
CONTEST COMMENCEMENT DATE AND DEADLINE FOR ENTRY
Contest Period begins 9:00 am CT, Monday, October 20, 2025 and ends 11:59 pm CT, Monday October 27, 2025. Enter online at http://www.abc7chicago.com during the contest period. All on-line entries must be received by 11:59 pm CT on Monday October 27, 2025.
To Enter Via Website: Entrants must go to the ABC 7 Chicago website (http://www.abc7chicago.com), click on the “WLS Junior Sportscaster” Contest graphic; or scroll down and click on the “Promotions, Contests and Rules” link at the bottom righthand section of the website and click the official “WLS Junior Sportscaster” entry link. Entrants will be required to complete the registration process and submit a video file featuring their child. Registration includes providing parent or guardian’s first and last name, child’s first and last name, age, email address, contact phone number and mailing address.
Video Entry Criteria:
Each contestant must submit a recorded sportscast featuring their child as a sports anchor.
Submission must be a minimum of sixty (60) seconds and a maximum of ninety (90) seconds.
Entry must NOT include any game footage. You will be disqualified if video clips are used from any major sports league.
No music can be used.
By submitting, you agree to the terms below, granting permission for ABC 7 Chicago to broadcast, stream, and post your content online.
You confirm that you took the video and are its copyright owner. Or you confirm that you are the copyright owner’s authorized agent. In addition, you confirm that you have all of the necessary rights to grant us this license for its use.
You give WLS Television, Inc., on behalf of ABC 7 Chicago, non-exclusive permission to reproduce, use, and edit the video on all platforms, in all media (now known or hereafter
developed), including, without limitation, broadcast, online, streaming, and social media, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, promotional uses, worldwide in perpetuity.
You give WLS Television, Inc., on behalf of ABC 7 Chicago, permission to distribute the video to WLS Television, Inc.’s licensees, including, but not limited to, other ABC owned stations, affiliates, partners, assigns, and other licensees, for their use on all platforms, in all media (now known or hereafter developed), including, without limitation, broadcast, online, streaming, and social media, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, promotional uses, worldwide in perpetuity.
You understand that you will receive no payment or royalty for any use under this agreement; that WLS Television, Inc., on behalf of ABC 7 Chicago, is under no obligation to use, edit or distribute the material; and that you have no right to inspect or approve any use of the material.
You warrant and represent that all of the material submitted by you in your Entry is truthful, original to you (and not based on or derived from any other materials), that you own all necessary rights in and to the material in the Entry which is fully transferable without the need for permission from or payment to any other party and that the exercise of the rights set forth in the Contest Rules by the Sponsors will not violate or otherwise infringe upon any third party rights and will not violate any contractual obligations or confidential relationships which you may have to or with any third party. Any entries submitted with inappropriate, illegal or offensive content will be immediately disqualified. Sponsors are not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete or misdirected submissions.
Judging Criteria:
Do you dream of calling the next big play? Think you’ve got the voice and the energy of a true sportscaster?
We’re looking for aspiring sports anchors between the ages of 5 to 12.
Step up to the mic and show us your play-by-play skills.
One lucky contestant will win the chance to record a sportscast for one of our newscasts with our sports anchor Ryan Chiaverini.
The criteria for selection at all stages of the contest, unless otherwise indicated, include: 1) Expression/Charisma (25%), 2) Entertainment Value (25%): and 3) Creativity/Originality (25%) 4) Accurate Play-by-Play Commentary (25%) (“Judging Criteria”). Each Submission will receive a score based on the Judging Criteria for a maximum of up to one hundred (100) points. Sponsor reserves the right to select fewer than 10 Finalists, if in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified submissions.
Entries remain the property of Sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged.
Sponsor can provide no technical support and accepts no responsibility for ensuring the receipt or successful submission of your entry. Mass entries or entries generated by a script, macro or use of automated methods will be disqualified. Sponsor is not responsible for failed, partial or garbled computer transmissions, or for technical failures of any kind, including but not limited to electronic malfunction or damage of any network, hardware or software. If for any reason the contest is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or other causes that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the contest, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the contest. No responsibility is assumed for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries; or any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers, or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any e-mail or electronic entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Web-site, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from participation in or downloading any materials from this contest. In the event of a dispute over an electronic entry, prize will be awarded to the owner of the e-mail account, not the name on the entry form. Except as otherwise contemplated by these Rules, and to the extent entrants may otherwise elect at the time of Entry, information provided by you for this contest is subject to Sponsor’s privacy policy located at https://disneyprivacycenter.com/privacy-policy-translations/english.
IV. HOW AND WHEN WINNERS WILL BE SELECTED AND NOTIFIED
One grand prize winner will be selected on or about November 17, 2025 from all valid entries received.
Round One:
Once all the entries are received, Sponsor will select 10 finalists based on the judging criteria.
Final Round:
During the week of November 10, 2025, ABC 7 Chicago will feature 10 finalist videos on their website and on-air on a newscast(s), and viewers will get the chance to vote online for their favorite entry.
The winner selected will win the chance to record a sportscast that will appear in an on-air broadcast during one of our newscasts with our sports anchor Ryan Chiaverini.
In the event winner is deemed ineligible, fails to comply with contest procedures, or is not available to claim prize during specified dates, then the runner-up winner will be selected.
Winners will be notified via email and/or telephone.
People who have won any other prizes on the station within 90 days of entry are not eligible to enter this contest.
Odds of winning depend on number of valid entries received. Many will enter; only one will win.
Final determination of winner is always conditional on verification of eligibility and compliance with all rules and procedures.
V. PRIZE(S)
One winner will win the chance to record a sportscast that will appear in an on-air broadcast during one of our newscasts with our sports anchor Ryan Chiaverini on a mutually agreed upon date. Winning parent and child must claim/accept prize and have signed and completed the release forms to WLS Television, Inc. no later than November 21, 2025. Prize/recording must be coordinated between the winning Parent or Guardian’s Child and WLS-TV. Prize fulfillment must occur prior to November 30, 2025.
Prize is subject to availability. Sponsor is not responsible for cancellation or preemption of show/contest/event/meeting or for other circumstances that make it impractical or impossible to fulfill this element of the prize. This element of the prize has no approximate retail value, and if it becomes impractical or impossible to fulfill this element, Sponsor’s only obligation will be to provide the remainder, if any, of prize.
VI. RELEASES
By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these official rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, Judges and/or the contest administrator, which shall be final in all respects.
By participating in this contest and accepting any prize that they may win, entrants agree to release ABC 7 Chicago and WLS Television, Inc., their parent, subsidiary, affiliated and successor companies, advertising and promotion agencies and prize suppliers, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, representatives and employees, as well as each of their respective successors, representatives and assigns “Released Parties” from any and all actions, claims, injury, loss or damage arising in any manner, directly or indirectly, from participation in this contest and/or acceptance or use of the prize.
Entrants authorize the Released Parties to use their name, voice, likeness, biographical data, city and state of residence and entry materials in programming or promotional material, worldwide in perpetuity, or on a winner’s list, if applicable, without further compensation unless prohibited by law. Sponsor is not obligated to use any of the above mentioned information or materials, but may do so and may edit such information or materials, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, without further obligation or compensation.
By submitting entry materials, entrants certify that such materials are original and created by entrant, that entrants have the necessary rights, permission and authority to submit such materials, and, if applicable, that entrants maintain a valid copyright in the materials. Entrants acknowledge that such materials may be included and/or discussed in a broadcast, that such discussion may include statements or opinions by the broadcast talent or others about the entrants, the entrants’ appearances and/or the materials, and that those statements and opinions may be considered surprising, humiliating, embarrassing, derogatory, defamatory or otherwise offensive or injurious to them, Sponsor’s employees, its studio or at-home audience and/or other third parties. Entrants release the Released Parties from any actions, claims, injury, loss or damage allegedly caused, directly or indirectly, by any use of the materials and/or such statements or opinions made in connection with them during a broadcast.
VII. MISCELLANEOUS; WINNERS’ LIST
Void where prohibited. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply.
Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process and to cancel, terminate, modify and/or suspend the contest in the event of tampering or other circumstances, including but not limited to acts of God or civil disturbance that render it impractical or impossible to complete or fulfill the contest originally planned.
For a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to ABC 7 Chicago, c/o WLS-TV News Director, 190 North State St, Chicago, Illinois 60664-0389, within 60 days after contest.
