Betting on the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2021

Emma Raducanu is the runaway favorite to win the 2021 BBC Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY).

The teenage sensation is nailed on to become the first female tennis player to win the gong since Virginia Wade in 1977 ahead of the awards ceremony in late December. 

I’ll be looking at Raducanu’s chances alongside the other main contenders for the SPOTY in 2021. There are some obvious names in there, but the prices for many of Britain’s biggest sports stars are simply staggering.

You can find the latest 2021 BBC SPOTY odds on the top-rated novelty betting sites.

Let’s look through some of them together before I analyze the leading candidates for the award.

I don’t believe we’ve seen such a one-horse race in the history of the SPOTY. But give her stunning win in the US Open, Emma Raducanu is the outstanding candidate at a seriously wallet-weakening -2000.

If you’re looking to bet on Raducanu, you must place a bet of $2000 for a $100 profit. If she wins. Which, well, she should.

Still, not great, huh?

Bettors might be drawn to other odds for the BBC SPOTY contenders. For example, Tom Daley at +800.

While it’s not out of the question that we will see a surprise, as shocks happen, it is highly unlikely that anyone from the list above will win. 

Let’s take a look at Raducanu and the other top contenders for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year for 2021.

• Sport: Tennis
• Age: 18
• Odds: -2000

US Open titlist Raducanu is a runaway favorite to win the Sports Personality of the Year award for 2021.

At just 18, the Canadian-born underdog smashed it in her debut at Flushing Meadows despite entering the tournament via qualifiers. It was an incredible achievement for the youngster, who was priced at +50000 before September.

Raducanu became the first female British tennis player in 44 years to win a Grand Slam singles title after Virginia Wade in 1977. Wade would go on to win the SPOTY that same year.

The youngster set a record for the fewest number of majors played before winning a tournament and looks set for a very promising career.

After her stunning success yesterday, Emma Raducanu has shot to the top of bookmakers' odds to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

If she won, Raducanu would be the first non-Olympian to win in an Olympic year since 1996 – and the first woman in 15 years.

More ? #bbcspoty

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 12, 2021

A superstar in China, the British public is clearly enamored of Raducanu and she fits the bill for what many believe a sports hero to be. Coupled with her outstanding performance in September, it’s incomprehensible to think she won’t win the award.

The tennis star will turn 19 in November, which puts her out of the equation for the young sports personality of the year award. That helps her case

Unsurprisingly, Raducanu’s odds to win the SPOTY will be off-putting for most bettors. But is there any point in betting against her?

• Sport: Diving
• Age: 27
• Odds: +800

Tom Daley is very popular with the British public. 

He became even more of a revered name with fans when he won his first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2020 in September in the men’s synchronized 10-meter platform.

Daley’s odds to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award shortened after that triumph and he looked as good a bet as anyone in the summer. But Emma Raducanu has shot past him to be installed as the bookies’ favorite.

Although +8000 would usually make someone an outsider for the award, amazingly, Daley is second to Raducanu ahead of the 2021 ceremony.

Daley is an esteemed figure in the world of diving, having first represented Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 as a 14-year-old. The following year, he was ranked top of the FINA World Aquatics Championships Diving Rankings for the 10m platform.

Had it not been for a certain US Open winner, Daley would have probably nailed this. As things stand, he’s the second-best candidate for the SPOTY in 2021.

• Sport: Swimming
• Age: 26
• Odds: +2000

The third of the top three contenders for the BBC SPOTY in 2021 clocks in at +2000. 

At the risk of overstressing a point, these odds are not typical for the third favorite and would usually be a longshot. The price does not lie, however, and Peaty is going to need a lot of votes to beat Daley, never mind Raducanu.

Although not as well-known as the other two, the Englishman made the headlines for winning a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, which ended a 24-year drought for male swimmers that lasted 24 years.

Peaty makes the list of candidates for the 2021 BBC Sports Personality of the Year having won gold in Tokyo in the same event. That made him the first-ever British swimmer to win back-to-back gold medals in the same category. 

Regarded as one of the greatest swimmers of his generation, there is no doubt that Peaty’s achievements deserve attention. Although it is difficult to see him taking the award this time around.

Unfortunately, the odds for the SPOTY start to get exceptionally large when you move past Peaty.

On paper, some names really deserve attention. But the oddsmakers aren’t giving most of these guys much of a chance at all.

I think it’s safe to rule Fury out of the equation, given his campaign to remove himself from contention last year.

The boxer is a huge favorite with fans in Britain and would have been one of the best bets for the BBC SPOTY if not for his feud with the broadcaster. 

Never say never, however. For that reason, I’ll be analyzing Fury’s chances in a separate piece dedicated to the outsiders and betting sleepers for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

I explain how you can find that at the bottom of this page.

The F1 superstar is a multiple-time winner of the award, having picked up last year’s gong.

Hamilton’s odds show that he is not currently in the contenders’ slot. But, if he wins an eighth F1 Drivers’ Championship, his odds would be slashed.

No one has ever done it before, and I think Hamilton’s case to win a third SPOTY would be even stronger than Raducanu’s. 

The cyclist from Manchester became Britain’s holder of the most gold medals won at the Olympics in the summer, ending the games with 7. He also has two silvers to his name.

For example, Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, and Geraint Thomas have all won since 2011. Only winners from tennis have bagged three awards this decade. And all three went to Andy Murray.

Kenny’s wife, Laura, is also named among the outsiders for the award.

The six-time Olympic gold medalist had a great summer in Tokyo, winning the madison. 

The most successful female British Olympian in history, the native of Essex doesn’t appear to have a great chance here.

It’s genuinely sad how much Taylor is overlooked by the British public. 

The Scotsman became the first undisputed British boxing champion since Lennox Lewis in April 2000 when he beat Jose Ramirez in May. 

Taylor is 18-0 in the pro ranks and is the first to unify the men’s lightweight division since Terence Crawford.

He gets my vote. Unfortunately, he’s unlikely to be close to winning this award.

If it’s not clear that Emma Raducanu is the runaway favorite, you might want to give this piece another read!

Of course, being the bookies’ favorite does not always guarantee success, as Anthony Joshua learned in 2017 along with others from years gone by. 

Still, it’s wildly unusual to see a favorite installed at such prohibitive odds.

With that said, she’s going to be very hard to beat. So, I’d suggest looking for other odds and markets to bet on that are related to other categories.

For example, the BBC World Sport Star of the Year (previously known as the Overseas Sports Star of the Year) is worth a shot. Ireland’s Rachael Blackmore looks a great bet at -150 to follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

You can find further analysis of the best sleepers and outsiders for the BBC SPOTY awards on our blog from October 21.

In the meantime, check out some more novelty bets by visiting that section of our site, below.