Sport
Key Sporting Events in December 2025
As the festive season approaches, there are plenty of key sporting events to get stuck into in December.
In this blog, we delve into four of the key sporting events that will take place in December, notably in the realms of F1, Darts, Football and Horse Racing.
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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 5th – 7th December
The recent Las Vegas Grand Prix was full to the brim with excitement and drama, as the two leading drivers in the Drivers’ Championship, McLaren’s Lando Norris (390 points) and Oscar Piastri (366 points) were disqualified after their cars failed to comply with regulations and they were penalised for technical infringements.
Max Verstappen was gifted 25 points as a result, and has fully reinserted himself into the running. With just two races remaining, Verstappen sits level with Piastri on 366 points, and the season finale in Abu Dhabi could shape up to be quite the spectacle, with all three drivers still in contention.
Ahead of the final two races, it looks as though the championship is Norris’ to lose, he is 2/7 to pick up his first title, with Max Verstappen now at 11/4 and Piastri 16/1.
World Darts Championship: 11th December – 3rd January
Since the discovery of the generational talent Luke Littler a few years ago in this competition, the PDC World Darts Championship has more attention on it than ever. Kicking off at the true start of the festive season on 11th December and runs into the New Year, concluding on 3rd January, this tournament always brings real excitement to the darts faithful and non-darts fans alike.
Littler is the clear market leader at even-money, with rival on the oche Luke Humphries his nearest contender at 7/2.
Find the full market for the PDC World Darts Championship 2026 here.
Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON): 21st December – 18th January
The African Cup of Nations runs for three weeks from 21st December, with 24 of Africa’s top countries battling it out for the title. Ivory Coast were last year’s victors and are priced at 10/1 to defend their title.
Morocco (11/4), Egypt (11/2) and Algeria (11/2) are the early market leaders, with the prices likely to change when proceedings kick off next month.
Bet on AFCON with William Hill.
King George VI at Kempton: 26th December
The King George VI at Kempton on Boxing Day is one of the biggest fixtures in racing’s National Hunt calendar, given the size of the purse, the history of the race and the calibre of horses it brings.
It’s the feature race of Kempton’s Christmas Festival, and is a Grade 1 run over three miles, with 18 fences to jump. First run all the way back in 1937 in honour of King George VI, the race was closed until after the war in 1947, which saw it fall on Boxing Day.
It’s said to be the second-most prestigious chase in England, only to the Cheltenham Festival’s Gold Cup, boasting a prize pot of £260,000, a monumental sum for National Hunt racing in the UK.
Some big hitters line up for this year’s renewal, namely recent John Durkan winner Gaelic Warrior (6/4), Ascot 1965 Chase winner Jango Baie (11/4) and Harry Redknapp-owned The Jukebox Man (5/1), who make up the top three in ante-post betting.
