Updated: 2024
You can bet on the winner of the award, and have been able to do so for many years now – the first award ceremony took place 64 years ago!
The ceremony became to be such a staple in today’s UK society.
We walk you through the nominees of 2020 and all the betting strategies you need to know. Continue reading to find out all you need to know!
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BBC SPOTY: A Brief Overview
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year, ceremony, or BBC SPOTY takes place every year in December.
It is awarded for excellence in sporting achievement and a number of sportspersons are shortlisted by an expert panel, from which one winner is determined by public vote.
To be considered for the award, one must be either British or reside and spend most of their sports career in the UK.
The award has been running for over 60 years and is highly anticipated every December of each year. The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is also highly regarded, sometimes more so than the World Cup because it encompasses all the sports.
Since its beginning, the ceremony has grown into eight different awards:
- Sports Personality Of The Year
- Team of the Year
- Coach of the Year
- World Sport Star of the Year
- Greatest Sporting Moment of the Year
- Unsung Hero
- Lifetime Achievement Award
- Helen Rollason Award
Nomination Procedure
Besides the expenditure into eight award categories, the BBC SPOTY has also gone through a change in its nomination procedure.
Up until 2012, the procedure involved 30 sports journalists, each submitting a list of top 10 contenders from which the final nominees were determined.
It wasn’t until this procedure produced an all-male shortlist in 2011 that it came under heavy criticism. Following that, the nomination procedure was changed by introducing an expert independent panel.
The panel looks at three criteria to produce a shortlist of contenders:
- Reflection of UK sporting achievements on the national and international stage
- Representation of the breadth and depth of UK sports
- The ‘impact’ of the contender’s sporting achievement beyond the actual sport in question
The final list of shortlisted contenders is revealed at the beginning of the BBC SPOTY award show in December. During its live programme, the public gets to cast their vote and decide the winner.
Top 3 Favorite BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2020
The 66th edition of the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year Ceremony is still on course to take place this December. The award recognizes outstanding sportspeople, is highly regarded because it encompasses all sports. A number of sportspeople have been shortlisted by the panel and only one will emerge the winner after the public votes. The favorites and their corresponding odds are:
Tyson Fury – Boxing
The Gypsy King is the odds-on favorite to be crowned the 2020 BBC Sports Personality of the Year after dominating Deontay Wilder in the hugely-anticipated rematch that saw him record an emphatic win to become the WBC Heavyweight Champion in February. The 31-year-old British boxing superstar made a remarkable comeback in 2018 after overcoming mental health issues, and alcoholism and drug abuse to be awarded the Ring Comeback of the Year Award.
The Lineal Heavyweight Champion had miraculously recovered from two knockdowns in the first match against The Bronze Bomber in 2018, in an exciting match that ended in a controversial draw. Fury has also been lauded for encouraging his fans to exercise during the coronavirus lockdown by sharing his daily workout schedule, boosting his relationship with his fan base.
Marcus Rashford – Football
Marcus Rashford is hot on Fury’s heels after his odds shot from 80/1 to as short as 7/4 in a few weeks. The 22-year-old England and Manchester United striker has been hailed for his efforts in helping the vulnerable and child poverty during the period football was suspended. He helped Charity Fairshare UK to raise over £20 million to supply food to needy families.
Rashford successfully led a campaign for school food vouchers to be issued during the summer holidays after the government had said the vouchers would not be available. The forward penned an open letter to the government stating that he relied on school food vouchers as a young boy and pleading for the vouchers to be extended. The government bowed to pressure and vowed to provide a summer food fund worth over £100 million.
Rashford was also recognized for his contribution to charity work in the Greater Manchester area, and received a High Sheriff Special Recognition Award, making him a top contender for the award.
Jordan Henderson – Football
Liverpool’s 30-year-old skipper Jordan Henderson is third on the Spoty favorites list after captaining his side to their first premier league title in 30 years. The midfielder has been the cornerstone of an incredibly talented Liverpool team that has enjoyed huge success in the recent seasons. Henderson marshaled Liverpool to their sixth Champions League, fourth European Super Cup, and first Club World Cup titles all in a brilliant run in 2019.
The outstanding Englishman has consistently been at the heart of this year’s premier league champions helping them maintain the best defensive record for consecutive seasons in the league while scoring four goals and assisting five. The skipper has already achieved a feat that not most of his predecessors did and is in line to become one of Anfield’s great, and a Spoty award would be a deserved boost.
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