BBC Sports Personality of the Year award turns 70 in 2024

It’s one of the most enduring televised award shows on the planet.

Only the Oscars can boast the longevity of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, which was first shown in December 1954 – Christopher Chataway, whose extraordinary career saw him go from Commonwealth Games gold medallist to TV presenting and even a stint as a Conservative MP, was the inaugural winner.

So who will win in 2024? Here’s everything you need to know about one of the best-loved and longest-running TV award shows going.

Kane is able

Back in the days before streaming services, satellite TV and other tech-based distractions, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year broadcast regularly pulled in viewing figures in excess of 20 million.

It’s a hugely popular award – even the 2023 edition pulled in more than five million viewers, which explains why there’s such a fevered interest in predicting the winner.

It is possible to predict the winner of the Sports Personality of the Year at a participating online sports betting site in the UK, with the odds fluctuating based upon the fortunes of the British sporting fraternity throughout the year. At the time of writing, the long-list features those competing at the Olympic Games (Mark Cavendish (10/1), Kelly Hodgkinson (18/1), Adam Peaty (25/1) etc), who would have an excellent chance of landing the award if they strike gold in Paris.

The 2024 edition could be a particularly good one for punters if England live up to expectations and win EURO 2024 – a football tournament that will, should the Three Lions prevail, likely provide the Sports Personality of the Year award winner.

That individual would probably be the match-winner in the final, or at least the player that seemingly contributed the most to England’s cause. So Harry Kane, the Three Lions’ premier striker, may well be the smart choice to lift the famous trophy in 2024 – emulating Mary Earps, the Lionesses’ goalkeeper whose performances swept them to the World Cup final last year.

A whole lot of history

The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award has come a long way since its first edition in 1954, when viewers were encouraged to cast their vote weeks in advance of the show via postcard!

Today, a specially-selected panel of sporting stars past and present, alongside media representatives, picks a six-strong shortlist of nominees. The winner is then chosen on the night by phone voters at home.

Historically, athletics has been the sport that has produced the most winners of the award – 18, to be precise, which goes to show the importance of global events like the Olympics and the World Championships in determining the destination of the trophy.

Formula One (eight), football (seven) and tennis (seven) have also been regular contributors of winners, with women’s football – Earps and Beth Mead in 2022 – claiming the award in the past two years.

As for 2024, a sizzling summer of sport that takes in EURO 2024 and the Olympic Games will surely provide the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award winner on its 70th anniversary – but who will it be?

The editorial unit
Photo: Harry Kane – Enviro Warrior via Flickr (CC By-SA 2.0)