BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Voting, Odds, TV Schedule

The 2009 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year awards kicks off another round of end-of-year accolades for top UK athletes this year being held at the Sheffield Arena beginning 1900 GMT on Sunday, December 13, 2009.

The awards show, touted on one of the biggest in SPOTY history, will be a hottest ticket in the world of British sport as 11,000 fans pack the Sheffield Arena for the annual event.

This year, Sue Barker and Gary Lineker are back at the helm alongside Jake Humphrey for the 2-hour presentation, which will be covered live on BBC One, BBC Radio 5 Live, and the BBC Sport website.

Sports Personality Contenders 2009

Meanwhile, watch for the top 10 SPOTY contenders to be announced during The One Show on BBC One on Monday, November 30 at 1900 GMT. Odds-on favorites and rumored top contenders this year include Formula One winner Jenson Button, world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis, and boxer David Haye.

Other 2009 Sports Personality contenders include cricketers Andrew Strauss and Andrew Flintoff, gymnast Beth Tweddle, and diving champion Tom Daley.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2008 recap

Leading the pack in 2008 included odds-on popular favorites Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington and Formula One racer Lewis Hamilton.

More Olympic champs named to the list included sailor Ben Ainslie and 400m gold medalist Christine Ohuruogu, and cycling stars Nicole Cooke, Chris Hoy, Rebecca Romero and Bradley Wiggins. British tennis champ Andy Murray also made the list along with a repeat appearance by the 2007 winner, boxing great Joe Calzaghe.

Taking top honors was triple Olympic gold medal-winner cycler Chris Hoy with another first place finish as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2008. Coming in second was F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, and in third place Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington.

More top awards in 2008 went to:

Team of the Year - British Olympic cycling team
Coach of the Year - David Brailsford
Unsung Hero Award - Ben Geyser
BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year - Eleanor Simmonds

More about BBC Sports Personality of the Year around the Web:

BBC Sports Personality of the Year - The official site with viewer voting, related rules, video clips of major sporting highlights, nominee pictures & profiles plus viewer-submitted predictions and tales of the year's greatest sporting moments. Also features complete TV and radio schedule, related interactive games, and a Which Sports Personality Are You? quiz.