Search
shop

BBC SPOTY 2024: Date, start time, how to watch live and vote tonight as Alex Yee bids for ICONIC award

Editor-In-Chief
Last updated -
STRENGTH. ENDURANCE. PERFORMANCE.

It’s been a quite incredible year for Britain’s Olympic triathlon champion Alex Yee, but there is STILL one more major prize up for grabs – BBC Sports Personality Of The Year (better known these days as SPOTY). And the day has arrived (Tuesday December 17)…

For anybody not living in the UK, this is probably the biggest sports award handed out in this nation every year – getting massive publicity in mainstream media. Partly because it is of course backed and handed out by the national broadcaster.

Triathlon has come close before to winning the prize, and now swim/bike/run has another shot with Yee one of the possibles after that epic surge past the gallant Hayden Wilde to claim gold at Paris 2024 in July.

The competition is hot though, as you would imagine with every single sport under the sun having the chance to contend for the big prize. So as the countdown reaches a climax, here is all we know ahead of the 2024 spectacular.

Alex Yee wins Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Paris 2024 Olympic Games by Wagner Araujo (@wags.photo)
Advertisement

When is BBC SPOTY 2024?

SPOTY will be handed out at a glittering awards ceremony to take place at BBC Sport’s headquarters in MediaCity, Salford, Manchester tonight (Tuesday December 17, 2024). It will of course be televised live to the nation on BBC One so everybody can watch the event unfold.

The ceremony and TV coverage gets under way at 1900 local time – that is 2000 CET, 1400 Eastern Time in the US or 1100 PST if you are watching on the West Coast. The coverage runs for two hours.

How does SPOTY work?

A shortlist of six athletes was announced on December 9, and those athletes are now in with a chance of winning the hallowed prize tonight. And now we KNOW Alex Yee is in with a big chance.

The shortlist is as follows:

  • Keely Hodgkinson: Olympic 800m champion
  • Alex Yee: Olympic triathlon champion
  • Sarah Storey: Para cycling great
  • Luke Littler: Darts sensation
  • Jude Bellingham: Real Madrid and England soccer star
  • Joe Root: England cricket star

Tonight in Manchester, the final results will be announced and we will know the 2024 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year.

So who actually decides the contenders, and then the winner? An expert panel will pick that six-athlete shortlist, and then the winner of the award will be decided by a public vote. We’ll add details of how and where you can vote, right here, once official.

Advertisement

How to vote for SPOTY

Voting has now closed for BBC SPOTY 2024.

Who is favourite for SPOTY?

This is a big deal, so of course there are odds, normally a pretty good place to start when working out who is favourite. Right now Britain’s Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson is favourite, with Alex Yee a 66/1 fourth favourite:

  • 1/4 Keely Hodgkinson
  • 11/4 Luke Littler
  • 40/1 Joe Root
  • 50/1 Alex Yee
  • 100/1 Jude Bellingham
  • 100/1 Sarah Storey

All odds were correct at 0700 UK on Tuesday December 17, 2024.

There are other positive signs too – Alex recently claimed the vaunted SJA Sportsman of the Year award, and his triathlon success was voted by the public as the TeamGB Moment of the Games in Paris. So a lot of people remember very well what he did on that epic day in the French capital on July 31.

Triathlon and SPOTY

Triathlon has yet to claim the Sports Personality of the Year award, but it has come close before.

One Alistair Brownlee finished second in the voting behind tennis icon Andy Murray back in 2016. Alistair had just claimed his second Olympic gold in Rio, and even more fresh in the public memory was that famous moment with brother Jonny in Cozumel.

Alistair Brownlee, Jonny Brownle, Rio 2016 Olympic Games podium celebration
Alistair Brownlee finished second in SPOTY in 2016 after that Olympic success in Rio.
Graham Shaw
Written by
Graham Shaw
Graham has been involved with TRI247 & RUN247 since the summer of 2021. Since then he has provided strategic direction for all news and is passionate about the growth of triathlon as a fan sport.
Discover more
French Riviera T100 bike course Esterel
Let’s race… French Riviera T100
TRI-FIT VANGUARD tri suit review
The entry-level tri suit with a serious amount of performance for the price point – TRI-FIT VANGUARD review
Challenge St. Pölten 2024 - image credit Jose Luis Hourcade / Challenge Family
Expert swim coach on the three most common swim mistakes age group triathletes make (and how to fix them!)
Gustav Iden aero position body rocket
How to get better at holding your time trial position – Expert tips from former PRO time trial cyclist Alex Dowsett
SunGod FORTY2s running sunglasses review
First look at the NEW SunGod FORTY2s running sunglasses – TRI247 Review
latest News
Paris 2024 Olympics - Cassandre Beaugrand wins
Olympic triathlon greats Beaugrand and Brownlee head star-studded Supertri cast for 2025
Riana Crehan IRONMAN Cairns 2025
SAS Australia superstar Riana Crehan ACES triathlon by passing epic IRONMAN Cairns test
Lionel Sanders training pic August 2023 photo credit Talbot Cox
Triathlon superstar Lionel Sanders is injured and seeking answers as he confirms IRONMAN Lake Placid DNS
Hiromu Inada IRONMAN 70.3 Cairns 2025
92-year-old IRONMAN triathlete completes 70.3-mile course in iconic Australian race
IRONMAN Cairns
Top triathlon star never feels like doing another IRONMAN after Cairns experience ends in a wheelchair
triathlon on your terms
Never miss out with our triathlon alerts & digest. Get a dose of adventure & inspiration with Boundless.
The 247 Group

The home of endurance sports

Share to...