Spoty 2022 Odds: Kane a great each-way bet at 10/1

Emma Raducanu was the winner of the 2021 Sports Personality of the Year Award, and our man @AnthonyEadson has decided to take a look at this year's market. It’s a 10/1 poke that has caught his eye and you can read below why he thinks this a great each-way bet.

Previous Winners

So let’s start things off by looking at some recent winners 

• 2021 - Emma Raducanu
• 2020 - Lewis Hamilton
• 2019 - Ben Stokes
• 2018 - Geraint Thomas
• 2017 - Mo Farah
• 2016 - Andy Murray
• 2015 - Andy Murray
• 2014 - Lewis Hamilton
• 2013 - Andy Murray
• 2012 - Bradley Wiggins

Those at the head of the betting

Next up let’s have a look at the market. After winning his seventh Snooker World Championship earlier this year, Ronnie O’Sullivan is the current favourite at 3/1 to win the Sports Personality of the Year award 2022. That win at the crucible now takes The Rocket level with Stephen Hendry for the most World titles in the modern era, although it’s worth noting that O’Sullivan has never finished in the top-three for SPOTY.

Next up we have Harry Kane at a current best price of 10/1. The Tottenham talisman and England captain is just three goals behind Wayne Rooney and is set to become our greatest ever goal-scorer for the Three Lions. 

Tyson Fury has previously asked to be taken off the SPOTY shortlist, but remains the third favourite in this year's market at a rather short looking 10/1. Fury is then followed by last year's winner Emma Raducanu at 16/1,  who has had an injury-riddled year since winning the US Open and claiming the SPOTY award in 2021.

Dina Asher Smith will have the chance to impress at next month's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and she can be backed at 28/1, along with Gold medal winning Eve Muirhead who took Gold in the curling at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Raheem Sterling at 33/1 rounds off the candidates priced at 40/1 or shorter.

The Case For Kane

Not taking anything away from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Tyson Fury or Eve Muirhead, but I do feel that the sporting achievements by the names at the top of the betting this season do not match the highs of previous years and this could be classed as a bit of a ‘weak field’. 

The main reason behind my thinking of Kane being a great each-way bet at 10/1 (3 places) for the award is that by the time the winner is crowned, Kane should be England’s all-time leading scorer. At the time of writing the 29-year-old is just three goals behind Wayne Rooney, and with four Nations League matches between now and the tournament in Qatar, it would be no surprise to see him break the record before the World Cup.’ 

If Kane doesn’t surpass Rooney before November’s World Cup there’s a very strong chance he could do so in the group stages with fixtures against Iran, Wales and USA. By this point King Kane should also be third in the all-time scorers list in the Premier League. He is currently 5th in the standings on 183 goals with Sergio Aguero and Andy Cole just ahead on 184 and 187. With Kane being talked about on regular occasions in the media as he creeps his way up the scorer rankings, I feel it can only be a good thing for helping his case for the SPOTY award to snowball. 

How many footballers have won the award?

Looking back at the last ten winners and you may be thinking, hang on a minute none of those are footballers, do they ever win the award. Well, yes is the answer, five footballers have won the award since it was launched in 1954, with Ryan Giggs being the latest to claim it in 2009. Bobby Moore, Paul Gascoigne, Michael Owen, and David Beckham are also previous winners, with three of those five also being on World Cup years which could be a good omen. 

Conclusion

Put simply I think the pros massively outweigh the cons about this 10/1 each-way shout. Kane may not be the glamorous celebrity that some footballing superstars are in the modern day but in my opinion it’s about time we started putting some respect on his name. His record at both club level and International level is remarkable and after helping England reach a semi-final and final in major tournaments, with potentially more to come in Qatar, his price should shorten nicely with others such as William Hill already cutting him to 6/1.