Who Will Join 1/33 Beth Mead on the Sports Personality Stage?
Has 2022 been a good year for the UK in sports? Judged on the betting for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year title – an accolade that will be awarded on Wednesday just before 9 pm – the answer is NO!
The broadcaster has tinkered with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year format for much of the past decade. Things got out of hand in 2016 when the public was given 16 candidates to choose from. Andy Murray won that year’s prize with 247,419 votes – it was one-third of the total votes cast.
The odds of Beth Mead taking the 2022 Sports Personality of the Year award are prohibitively short. But it is difficult to predict who will join her on the shortlist. ©GettyImages
Six contestants will be in contention this week – unless the BBC pulls an unexpected rabbit from the hat. And the broadcaster has returned to a system they introduced in 2018 (but later discontinued) whereby the shortlisted candidates are only introduced on the night. Again, this could be subject to change.
Odds Suggest Beth Mead Will Win SPOTY
Andy Murray will not be amongst the shortlisted contenders in 2022. The Scotsman won the title in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Another tennis player, Emma Raducanu, took the prize 12 months ago. Four successes in nine years underline the popularity of the racket sport amongst BBC viewers.
Cycling has enjoyed a similar golden spell. Chris Hoy, Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, and Geraint Thomas have all been crowned Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) since 2008. But it is unlikely that a cyclist will be proverbially wheeled out on Wednesday night.
But the novelty betting sites appear to have no real clue of who will be put forward by the broadcaster and its selection committee. However, odds compilers are adamant Beth Mead will win the award. The 27-year-old was part of the Lionesses team that won the Euros 2022.
Ben and Ronnie Second Best at 33’s
With six goals, Beth Mead won the Golden Boot for being the leading goal scorer. She was also awarded the Player of the Tournament accolade. Those achievements are enough to see her trading at 1/33 for Sports Personality of the Year 2022.
Ben Stokes has an outside chance of following in the footsteps of Lewis Hamilton and Andy Murray by winning the event twice. The cricketer – who won SPOTY in 2019 – replaced Joe Root as England’s Test cricket captain in April and, working with coach Brendon McCullum, won eight out of nine Test matches and the T20 World Cup.
The New Zealand-born Brit is available at 33/1. At an identical ‘double carpet’ (33/1) price is Ronnie O’Sullivan. The snooker player won the World Championship for the seventh time in 2022 and has since won the Champion of Champions and Hong Kong Masters.
Jonas and Fury Can Box Clever
After these three candidates, the novelty betting sites are struggling to decide who will make the SPOTY shortlist. At 50/1 – to win the event not to be nominated – are female boxer Natasha Jonas and the WBC Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury.
2014 runner-up, Rory McIlroy, last year’s third, Adam Peaty, and England striker and Euro 2022 winner Ellen White are all on offer at 80/1. MMA fighter Paddy Pimblett, who took his career record to 20-3 in Las Vegas last week is 100/1 with the UK’s best betting sites.
29-28 29-28 29-28
Paddy Pimblett does enough to score a unanimous decision victory at #UFC282 👏 pic.twitter.com/XPhGCtSXi6
— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 11, 2022
The betting is distinctively lopsided and, to compound the bad news, only a few online sportsbooks are offering each-way betting terms. Ladbrokes and Coral sportsbooks are among the select few. At 1/3rd the odds for positions 1-2 Ronnie O’Sullivan is a tempting play.
Can the Rocket Land in the Top Two?
The ‘Rocket’ was last nominated for SPOTY in 2020 after he took his sixth world crown and surpassed Stephen Hendry’s record of winning 36 ranking tournaments. Nevertheless, he finished outside of the SPOTY top three.
It is 34 years since a snooker player – Steve Davis – last won the BBC’s prize. But O’Sullivan has now achieved more than that 80’s star plus he is flamboyant, outspoken, and often controversial. These are all qualities in terms of attracting public votes.
2022 SPOTY When, Where, Who …
The 2022 Sports Personality of the Year will be broadcast live from MediaCityUK in Salford on Wednesday. Gabby Logan, Alex Scott, Gary Lineker, and Clare Balding will present the show that begins at 6.45 pm on BBC One.
