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Luke Littler won the Grand Slam of Darts
Littler won 10 titles and over £1million in his debut season

BBC Sports Personality of the Year betting tips, odds and shortlist: Darts sensation Luke Littler backed to overcome Olympic hero Keely Hodgkinson

By Chris Hammer
Darts
Tue December 17, 2024 · 6h ago

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner is crowned tonight so check out our preview and best bet.

TV betting tips: Sports Personality of the Year

1pt Luke Littler to win Sports Personality of the Year at 3/1 (General)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Keely Hodgkinson once again finds herself as a front runner in a big race - but this time her nearest challenger is a someone whose success has famously been fuelled by a diet of Squashies.

Victory for Luke Littler at BBC Sports Personality of the Year tonight (BBC 7pm) would see the 17-year-old become the first ever darts player to lift the famous trophy and further underline his status as the biggest star his sport has ever produced.

However, as much as we hear how many viewing figures darts gets on Sky Sports and ITV4 these days due to the Littler effect, we obviously can't forget how much the Olympics always dominates the sporting summer and that Hodgkinson was at the forefront of it.

Her 800m gold medal performance was so iconic that it shot her to wider stardom beyond athletics, and nobody can quibble about her being favourite for SPOTY. Winning it would be richly deserved.

However, the Littler story has been talked about all year, with new chapters being added pretty much every month.

There's no recency bias. It's just been continual moments of magic that have kept him firmly in the glare of the sports media spotlight.

That's why he was recently revealed as the UK's most searched athlete on Google for 2024 - a list that saw him finish above Lamine Yamal, Simone Biles and Jude Bellingham.

Of course we have to accept many millions of those searches will have been people wondering who Littler is and why he keeps trending, rather than naively thinking he now has more fans that the biggest sports stars in the world.

Nevertheless, it's an almighty achievement that he's in the public conscience so much.

Since becoming a star beyond the world of darts thanks to his run to the Ally Pally final 12 months ago, he has won 10 titles, including the Premier League and Grand Slam, as well as hitting four nine-darters to capture the imagination of millions of sports fans.

He's built up a huge fanbase on all platforms of social media thanks to all of his astonishing achievements and if enough darts fans care passionately about getting their sport more headlines, then he could pip the favourite at 3/1.

CLICK HERE to back Littler to win SPOTY with Sky Bet

SPOTY Shortlist

  • Keeley Hodgkinson: 1/4
  • Luke Littler: 3/1
  • Joe Root: 40/1
  • Alex Yee: 50/1
  • Jude Bellingham: 100/1
  • Sarah Story: 100/1

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