Just as there are Oscars for actors and Grammys for musicians, there are SPOTY Awards for British athletes and women. Namely, the Sports Personality of the Year Award, awarded by another acronym, the BBC (i.e. British Broadcasting Corporation). Consider the ESPY for UK nationals or residents. It has a history of over 40 years. There are seven categories, including Best Team, Coach and Junior Athlete, but the night’s top honor goes to SPOTY itself, determined by popular vote.
The first Spoti competition in 1954 was won by long-distance and middle-distance runner Christopher Chataway, who broke the 5,000-meter world record that same year. A year ago, in the latest edition of SPOTY, fellow runner Keeley Hodgkinson won the 800m Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
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The track and field standout has won the award 19 times. Next on the list is the Formula 1 racer with eight wins, followed by the tennis and soccer star with seven titles.
Only two golfers have ever achieved this honor. Dai Rees, who captained the British and Irish Ryder Cup team to victory over the Americans in 1957, and Nick Faldo, who won the Masters and the European Tour three times in 1989. In 2016, when Englishman Danny Willett surprised the golf world and won the Masters, he finished last of the 16 SPOTY finalists, receiving just 0.3% of the vote. Two years later, when Georgia Hall in Dorset, England, won the British Open Championship, she wasn’t even on the ballot. Same goes for Matt Fitzpatrick (the pride of Sheffield!) after winning the 2022 US Open. The snub prompted Briton Ian Poulter to tweet his disdain for Spotties, calling the organization’s “total disregard” for Fitzpatrick’s achievements a “travesty and a joke”.
And yes, there’s Rory McIlroy, who had a stellar few years of his own.
In 2014, McIlroy won the PGA Championship and British Open Championship, and Jack Nicklaus praised him. “I think Rory has a chance to win 15 or 20 majors or whatever he wants to do if he wants to keep playing.”Sadly, British sports fans felt that McIlroy still didn’t deserve Spotty’s glory, despite being the bookmaker’s 6-1 favorite to win. Instead, it was F1 racer Lewis Hamilton’s night. When Hamilton accepted the award, he sent McIlroy the following message: “I really didn’t have any expectations, because you’ve had such a great year.”
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Even if McIlroy had a smooth run to the runner-up spot, his colleagues didn’t. “Ridiculous,” Poulter tweeted. Luke Donald, also from X, pointed out, “There are a lot of angry people on my timeline.”
McIlroy was also named a SPOTY finalist in 2023 (a season that included two major wins, three top-seven finishes, and a 4-1 record at the Ryder Cup in Europe), but caused a bit of a stir when he chose not to attend the award ceremony or comment on video. “Every time I looked at the results, I forgot I was nominated,” McIlroy said in early 2025. “That’s what I think about. It’s a popularity contest. It’s not what it used to be.”
And in 2025?
No wonder McIlroy is a finalist again after a monster year. Pebble winner. Player winner. Masters winner. Lifetime Grand Slam Champion. Won titles at the Irish Open, Ryder Cup and DP World Tour Championship. Something like a dream. legendary thing. But is it enough to be spotty?
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The decision will be made Thursday at an awards ceremony in a glittering venue near Manchester, England. McIlroy told British golf writer James Corrigan that he intended to attend this time, adding with a wicked grin: “I have a better chance of winning if I’m there in person, and I recognize that if the show attracts a crowd it can only be good for the game. If I don’t win this time, I don’t think I’ll ever win.”
His rivals are English footballers Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly. Rugby star Ellie Kildon. Darts player Luke Littler. and F1 driver Lando Norris.
McIlroy is a strong bet, but does he have the smart money?
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