Luke Littler leads the betting with BetUS to be crowned Sports Personality of the Year for 2024. The teenage darting sensation has Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid for company as he bids to become the youngest person in over 50 years to win the prestigious award. We tell you who to get your money on in our latest Entertainment betting picks.
- The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an annual award handed out to the most effective sportsperson of the year.
- Also known as SPOTY, the award dates back to 1954, when Christopher Chataway won the title ahead of the legendary Roger Bannister
- Luke Littler and Jude Bellingham lead the betting to win in 2024 with BetUS.
Background to SPOTY
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an annual award presented to the British sportsperson who has had the greatest impact in the calendar year. In recent years, the award has become a popular UK sports betting market.
So how does it work? First, a shortlist of candidates is compiled, and then there is a public vote, with the person receiving the most votes crowned Sports Personality of the Year.
But the award doesn’t always go to the person who achieved the most. A whole number of factors can influence the outcome.
In 1990, England footballer Paul Gascoigne famously won the award for shedding tears after picking up a yellow card in the FIFA World Cup semi-final. The booking against West Germany would have ruled him out of the World Cup Final had England progressed. In the sporting arena, Gascoigne and England won nothing.
Paul Gascoigne 1990 BBC Sports Personality of the Year pic.twitter.com/rXAMyF7oGt
— VintageFooty (@VintageFooty) May 27, 2016
In 2009, Ryan Giggs won the award. In the main, because he had been around top-level English football for nearly 20 years. Horse racing jockey Tony McCoy won the 2010 award for similar longevity reasons.
Generally, when the award is handed out to winners in this manner, it’s usually because there is no stand-out individual for the public to vote for.
That certainly isn't going to be the case in 2024.
The main candidates
Youngsters Jude Bellingham and Luke Littler look set to battle it out for the award in 2024.
There is an Olympic Games on the horizon that could throw an outsider into the mix. But if nothing changes, it looks set to be Jude Bellingham and Luke Littler who will be the main contenders.
| 2024 Sports Personality of the Year Award |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Littler | +300 | +300 | +300 |
| Jude Bellingham | +400 | +400 | +400 |
| Harry Kane | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Mark Cavendish | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Keely Hodgkinson | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Katarina Johnson-Thompson | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Tyson Fury | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Phil Foden | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Ronnie O'Sullivan | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| James Anderson | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Anthony Joshua | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Adam Peaty | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Lando Norris | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Dina Asher-Smith | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
Jude Bellingham +400
Starting with Jude Bellingham, the Real Madrid and England midfielder is the +400 second-favorite with BetUS.
Bellingham has had an unbelievable season in Spain after transferring to Real Madrid in the summer of 2023. Already he has won the Champions League and Spain’s La Liga.
At 20 years old, Jude Bellingham just won his first-ever Champions League trophy in his first-ever UCL final appearance, against his former club, in his home country at Wembley Stadium 🏴
The scriptwriters have done it again 🥹🤍 pic.twitter.com/WZP9ICq2fp
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 1, 2024
And now he is trying to help England win Euro 2024.
If Bellingham can play a role in helping England win the Euros for the first time in history, the chances are he will be the favorite for the SPOTY award.
Luke Littler +300
In the latest entertainment betting online odds, Luke Littler is the +300 favorite to win SPOTY.
At the beginning of 2024, Littler took the sporting world by storm, making it to the final of the 2024 World Darts Championship.
Unlike Bellingham, when Littler went on his sensational run, he was unknown to the non-darts following public. The unseeded then 16-year-old went all the way to the final. Littler eventually only lost out to the new World No.1 ranked player, Luke Humphries.
Littler has continued to deliver the goods. He didn’t have to wait long for his first professional win. It came at the 2024 Bahrain Darts Masters in January, where Littler defeated Michael van Gerwen 8-5 in the final, proving that his run to the final of the World Darts Championship was no fluke.
He has since followed that up by winning the Darts Premier League—one of darts' most prestigious events.
LITTLER IS THE PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPION! 🏆
Luke Littler wins the Premier League in his debut year!
A fairytale story has its dream ending! 🙌
📺 https://t.co/gbUt9q25Jh#PLDarts | Play-Offs | Final pic.twitter.com/SoxPa3AgkA
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 23, 2024
Our Picks to be BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2024
A lot can change over the next few weeks and months. If Katarina Johnson-Thompson (+2000) can win Olympic gold in the Heptathlon in Paris, the +2000 available for her to win SPOTY now will be long gone.
And likewise, if Mark Cavendish (+1200) can beat the record for stage wins at the Tour de France, that will catapult him into the reckoning.
One thing taken as a given is that football will always be more popular in the UK than any of those sports. So if Jude Bellingham can play a vital role for England this summer, he will have a great chance of winning the award.
The nation has already taken Luke Littler to their hearts. But Jude Bellingham also has a very articulate personality. Bellingham won’t lose votes because of a bad attitude. He is the guy no father would mind their daughter bringing home as their new boyfriend. Polite, intelligent, and respectful.
He has already shown himself to be England’s leading light in the Euros, and playing outside of the UK at Real Madrid means he shouldn’t miss out on votes because of British club loyalties.
Jude Bellingham is our betting pick to win the 2024 Sports Personality of the Year award.
For our outside pick, we are going for Katarina Johnson-Thompson. An Olympic gold is within her reach. If she wins it, KJT comes straight into the reckoning to also win SPOTY.
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