This year’s prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is set to be a cracker as we head to the tail end of the 2025 sporting calendar, with familiar faces and surprise additions all vying to capture the lucrative prize.
And while the event may still be a few months away yet, that hasn’t stopped bookies from putting down their early front-runners ahead of the 72nd edition as we walk you through the top 20, as per oddschecker.
10 Matthew Hudson-Smith
Athletics
The 400 metres 2024 Olympic and World Championship silver medallist was tipped for World Championship glory on his return to Japan this year as one of the favourites leading into the sprint event, but could only manage sixth place in his semi-final after complaints of a hip issue as he struggled to progress through the heats with a time of 44.95s, a far cry from his 43.44s personal best.
Team GB held out high hopes of a medal return for the fifth-fastest man of all time over the 400m distance, as the 30-year-old’s quest for World Championship gold continues.
9 Tommy Fleetwood
Golf
The PGA Tour world number seven has had an unforgettable year in golf as he achieved his first Tour championship win at the 164th time of asking, following that up with further success at the FedEx Cup, where he was victorious. The man from Southport, Merseyside, capped off his individual success by playing his role to perfection in this year’s Ryder Cup as Team Europe held on to win 15-13.
Fleetwood played a pivotal part in Europe’s success in New York, with his exploits on Bethpage Black helping his team clinch victory with an overall record of 4-1-0.
8 Josh Kerr
Athletics
The Scottish middle distance runner has had a topsy-turvy year as he battled illness and injury in the lead up to the 2025 World Championships. The 1500m 2023 World Champion finished second at the London Athletics Meet, losing out to Phanuel Koech.
The 27-year-old tasted more success at the UK Athletics Championship as he finished first in the 5000m event. Kerr suffered a right calf injury, however, during the 1500m World Championships held at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan as he finished last.
7 Luke Littler
Darts
The professional darts player and 2024 SPOTY runner-up is in the running for the award once again this time around, as his darts exploits continue as the now 18-year-old added the World Championship and UK Open to his growing cabinet of silverware.
Littler has achieved great success this year and produced more than his fair share of memorable moments for fans to admire. His televised nine-darter at the Premier League Darts against Michael van Gerwen is a sight that won’t soon be forgotten. His victory on the world stage at just 17 years and 347 days old made him the youngest world champion in the history of the sport.
6 Kim Little
Arguably one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the women’s game, the 35-year-old former Scottish international and Arsenal number 10 captained her club side to European glory as they overcame Barcelona to leave Lisbon with the Champions League trophy.
Wherever she goes, the attacking midfielder has won trophies and individual awards with countless honours to her name during her nearly two decades in the sport. Her role in undoing the dominant Spanish side in the final was clear for all to see. Often underrated, her place on this list is well deserved indeed.
5 Hannah Hampton
Where would The Lionesses be without their pivotal goalkeeper? A constant source of reliability to her national side, 2025 proved to be a major year for the Chelsea shot-stopper, who went into the 2025 Euros as the go-to between the sticks after Mary Earps announced her retirement from international football prior to the tournament.
Hampton proved she was ready to answer the call, with a Player of the Match performance in the quarter-final against Sweden, where she made two saves in the resulting shoot-out. She again came up with the answer in the final as England defeated Spain as they achieved their second back-to-back European Championship victory in a year where she also won the prestigious Women’s Yashin Trophy at the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
4 Lando Norris
Formula 1
The F1 driver has been in a back and forth battle with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri for the Drivers’ Championship, having amassed a total of 299 points as of writing. Seen as a title favourite, Norris has put himself well into contention with seven races to go, with it clear that in order to put himself in the mix for the SPOTY award he will have to first overcome his Australian teammate in the standings.
The 25-year-old has produced an impressive display at racing tracks around the globe, with victories in Australia, Monaco, Great Britain, Austria, and most recently in Hungary, alongside numerous podium finishes, keeping him in the conversation for a first Drivers’ Championship.
3 Ellie Kildunne
Rugby
One of the shining lights of England Women’s unforgettable Rugby World Cup win, her spot in the top three is not without merit. A dominant try scorer, the World Player of the Year made her presence known in the final as the Red Roses avenged their loss at the last hurdle in 2022 by defeating Canada at Twickenham in front of a record attendance of 81,885.
A head injury she had actually been dealt in the group stages of the tournament forced her to sit on the sidelines for 12 days in line with concussion protocol, but she then returned to spearhead the Roses’ advance to the semi-final against France at Ashton Gate, Bristol.
2 Rory McIlroy
Golf
The first European to achieve a modern career Grand Slam needs no introduction, as he completed the feat that only five men had done before him at Augusta National with a nail-biting play-off victory at the expense of Justin Rose to secure The Masters.
His first Major win since 2014 was followed up by even more success at the 45th Ryder Cup on American turf, as Team Europe overcame Team USA to lift the trophy, with the Northern Irishman one of standout performers of the event.
1 Chloe Kelly
The bookies’ frontrunner at 10/11 odds to be crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the Year takes the form of Lioness striking sensation Chloe Kelly, who gave football fans up and down the country cause for celebration after she had the final say at the 2025 Women’s European Championship, when she scored the deciding penalty that gave England victory at the hands of Spain in the final.
It was business as usual for Kelly, who had often been the player that teammates looked to for inspiration. Substituted on with the situation looking bleak against Sweden in the quarter-final, she delivered two precision perfect crosses as England came from two goals down to level the game. Again the hero in the semi-final against Italy, when she stepped up once more to send her country to the final.
The 27-year-old also started for Arsenal in their triumphant Champions League final victory over Barcelona as they won 1-0 to see off the side that had won back-to-back tournaments in 2023 and 2024.