Jessica Ennis is City boys’ hottest bet
City traders and other professional punters stand to make millions of pounds if Jessica Ennis wins the heart of the nation after her stunning heptathlon gold medal performance in the World Athletics Championships.
Although Ennis is not yet a household name, she is now second favourite to become BBC Sports Personality of the Year, sparking concern that the contest is open to influence by gamblers.
Odds on Ennis winning have tumbled from 33/1 to 7/2 in the last few days, guaranteeing her higher levels of attention than she might otherwise have got, which may in turn lead to more votes.
High-rolling sports gamblers began staking serious amount of cash on a Sports Personality victory for Ennis, 23, at the end of last week. Yesterday she romped to victory in Berlin.
One bookmaker, who asked not to be named, said "a wall" of City money has been placed on Ennis pipping Andrew Flintoff, Jenson Button and Andy Murray to the title.
City bookmakers Extrabet.com said it was stunned by how much cash was going on Ennis and nervous at what the industry stands to lose. A spokesman said: "It's a City punt. All the inquiries I've been getting about it have been from bankers and brokers. One comment I heard was by someone who hadn't got a bonus this year so was looking to make it up in other ways.
"Significant sums are riding on this and the bookies could end up with burnt fingers."
The Sports Personality of the Year contest began in 1954 and is one of the most coveted British awards. Although the BBC insists the result cannot be fixed, it has come under suspicion in the past.
In 2006 brokers bet on comedian David Walliams at 100/1 after he swam the Channel. His odds fell to 9/4 and the BBC changed the rules so it was only possible to vote from a selected shortlist. Zara Phillips won in the end.
Louisa Fyans, head of marketing and communications for sport at the BBC, said: "The top 10 is decided in November by newspaper sports editors, then voting is done on the night by viewers. It is regulated, as with all phone votes.
"We monitor block-voting on the night. Anyone can vote of course, but they'd have no say over the top 10. If anything can be failsafe, this is."
Claire Furlong, head of communications at UK Athletics, said: "It is entirely up to bankers what they bet on and I think the BBC have set this up in such a way that it cannot be fixed."
One City gambler who bet on Ennis told the Standard: "If money is already down then with the internet you can fire up a campaign for voting fairly easily."
