Sports Personality of the Year Betting Odds
The Sports Personality of the Year Betting odds are live!
The Sports Personality betting odds are always live at BetUK – even when the contenders haven’t been announced. This awards ceremony is one of the biggest of the year and betting on SPOTY has never been easier.
BetUK offers extensive odds on more than 40 sports stars each year. From Olympians to World Cup winners, European champions and world record breakers – BetUK Sports Personality betting is the place to be!
In this guide we’ll take you through how to bet on Sports Personality and what options are open to you. We’ll look at past winners and offer some SPOTY betting tips, so you can bet more confidently on the next awards ceremony.
Sports Personality Betting
BetUK is the home of Sports Personality betting thanks to our commitment to opening up the market as soon as possible. Our SPOTY odds go live months before the big night each December and you can start betting on the contenders early.
This is great news for those who can accurately predict who will win Sports Personality and lock in a better, bigger price.
How to bet on Sports Personality
If you’re new to SPOTY betting then let’s take you through the process of backing your favoured candidate. The first thing you need to do is join BetUK and create a profile. You can do this via the BetUK site or by downloading the app.
You need to be aged 18 and over to do this. Set a deposit limit and charge your account before heading to the Sports Personality Odds.
You’ll find all the latest odds on each SPOTY contender, with the favourites at the top. Click on the odds of the name you want to back and enter your stake in the bet slip. Once you’re happy with the bet, simply click to confirm it!
Sports Personality Betting Tips
Sports Personality has been running since 1954. It is a public vote for who the UK thinks is the best sportsperson that year. There are plenty of trends that have emerged over the years and betting on SPOTY is now as common as voting for it!
With that in mind, here are some quick Sports Personality tips to get you started ahead of the next awards ceremony.
Ignore Personality when betting on SPOTY
SPOTY has nothing to do with personality. Yes, this is the “Sports Personality” award but the meaning of that word has changed over the past eight decades. The word ‘personality’ back in the 1950s was more interchangeable with ‘person’ than it is today. Really, it’s the Sports Person of the Year and voters cast their votes based on the person’s achievements, not their personality. Think about that when you’re planning your bets.
Factor In Personality
Hang on, doesn’t this go against what we’ve just said? Well, yes, kind of. This is a public vote, meaning the public often vote for the person they like most. In an era of reality TV and celebrity-driven media, SPOTY is now just as much a vote on someone’s public acclaim as it is their medals or trophies. So, when betting on SPOTY, balance sporting success alongside a sportsperson’s national popularity.
Their Sport Matters
The most popular sports usually generate more SPOTY winners. Since 1954 and 2023 there were 18 athletics winners, eight Formula One winners, and seven each from football and tennis. Five cricketers, boxers and cyclists have also won. These sports have a large fraternity behind them, so if a tennis player wins a Grand Slam – like Emma Raducanu in 2021 – then that core backing often swings the vote.
Watch for Olympics Years
Olympians usually win during Olympics years. In 2016 it was Andy Murray (gold in the men's singles tennis in Rio). In 2012 it was Bradley Wiggins (gold in the London time trial). Chris Hoy, Kelly Holmes and Steve Redgrave all won during Olympics years. Raducanu won in 2021 to buck the trend as she pipped diver Tom Daley to the gong.
Shocks can Happen
Sports Personality isn’t immune from surprise results. Ryan Giggs’ victory in 2009 is perhaps the most famous, as everyone expected Jessica Ennis-Hill or Jenson Button to win, only for the Manchester United veteran to top the vote. In recent years, Andy Murray’s three wins between 2013 and 2016 was something of a surprise but shows the weight of his popularity. Likewise, ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson came second in 2020.
Sports Personality Betting
Keely Hodgkinson won a sensational 800m gold medal at the Paris Olympics this summer to trump her silver medal earned in Tokyo three years ago.
She is one of just three Olympians and Paralympians from this summer’s Games to make the top eight in the SPOTY betting odds.
However, among the list are also seasoned sportspeople Mark Cavendish and Sir Ben Ainslie, who have won gold for Team GB in previous Games.
All eyes seem to be on Hodgkinson for the SPOTY award but the public vote can sometimes skew the results.
Here, BetUK looks at the top eight Sports Personality of the Year betting contenders, based on the latest SPOTY odds*.
- Keely Hodgkinson – 1/5
- Luke Littler – 13/4
- Mark Cavendish – 16/1
- Ben Ainslie – 20/1
- Jack Draper – 50/1
- Sarah Storey – 50/1
- Thomas Pidcock – 50/1
- Lando Norris – 80/1
Keely Hodgkinson – 1/5 to win SPOTY
Hodgkinson was Team GB’s brightest hope for a gold medal in Paris this summer and she duly delivered. Her 800m times heading into the Games were exceptional and she headed into Paris having defended her European Championship title in Rome a month earlier.
She lost by less than a second to Athing Mu at Tokyo 2020, so there was a redemption arc here for Hodgkinson to complete. Not only did she complete it but she demolished the field. Her celebration with a gold crown on her head will live long in the memory. No wonder she is 1.40 to win SPOTY.
Luke Littler – 13/4 to win SPOTY
Hodgkinson’s biggest rival for the Sports Personality gong is Luke Littler, the darts sensation who reached the World Darts Championship final in January, aged just 16. Littler has since won the darts Grand Slam, Premier League and World Series. He is the most exciting thing to come out of darts in a generation.
Now, Littler will have a lot of darts fans voting for him and Hodgkinson’s vote might be split by Olympics fans who want to reward Cavendish and Ainslie for their career achievements. Perhaps Littler can slip in to claim the top prize, at 13/4.
Mark Cavendish – 16/1 to win SPOTY
Cavendish won the 2011 Sports Personality of the Year award with more than half the vote. To win again this year would be a remarkable achievement. That triumph 13 years ago came after Cavendish won the points classification in the Tour de France. The seasoned sprinter won his final career stage on the Tour this summer at Saint-Vulbas. It was his 35th stage win – a new record on the Tour.
Cavendish could win this contest if fans vote to celebrate his career – just like Ryan Giggs in 2009. At 16/1 he's a good outside pick.
Sir Ben Ainslie – 20/1 to win SPOTY
Like Cavendish, Ainslie has won plenty of medals in his career – yet he's never made it into the top three of a SPOTY award. That could change after the 39-year-old led the yacht Britannia (Ineos Team UK) into the America's Cup. It was the first time a British yacht had reached the race in 60 years.
Ainslie and co. lost 7-2 to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron this October in a race off Barcelona. Yet to even reach this stage was a remarkable feat for someone who has achieved so much in his career. He is 20/1 to win the gong this year.
Jack Draper – 50/1 to win SPOTY
Five tennis players have won SPOTY over the years, including Andy Murray who swept the award three times between 2013 and 2016. Jack Draper is the next big thing in British men's singles tennis and he turned heads this year when reaching the US Open semi-finals. At 22, Draper is still finding his feet in the sport. Like Emma Raducanu (US Open champion in 2019) there is still plenty more to come from Draper.
However, if the tennis fraternity gets behind him then his odds of 50/1 might look good value.
Lando Norris – 100/1 to win SPOTY
Lando Norris has been in F1 for six seasons now but is finally becoming a household name. The McLaren driver brought the challenge to Max Verstappen and won grands prix in Miami, Netherlands, and Singapore. There's more to come from Norris, even if he doesn't win the F1 championship this year.
In fact, Norris is a great outside bet to win it in 2025 when he challenges Verstappen again for the title. Lewis Hamilton won it in 2014 and 2020, so there is an appetite for F1 drivers in this contest. Norris is 100/1 to win it this year.
Dame Sarah Storey – 50/1 to win SPOTY
Dame Sarah Storey has spent pretty much her entire life winning medals. The former Paralympic swimmer, who won her first 100m backstroke gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games, claimed Road Race C4-5 and Time Trial C5 gold on the bike in Paris this summer.
She is a serial winner yet has never got in the top three of a SPOTY awards ceremony. This could change with her being just one of three Olympic/Paralympic names in the favourites list. She is 50/1 to win the gong.
Thomas Pidcock – 50/1 to win SPOTY
Our third Paris Olympian/Paralympian in the top eight of the Sports Personality of the Year betting odds is Thomas Piddock – the cross-country cyclist who successfully defended his gold medal this summer. Piddock also took bronze at the World Championships this September and is starting to make a name for himself beyond the cycling fraternity.
At 50/1 he's an outsider here but he could easily challenge in 2028 if he wins Olympic gold in Los Angeles.
*Odds correct as of 01/12/2024