by Plans are already underway to bring Luke Littler to New York’s Madison Square Garden later this year. The Professional Darts Corporation will also support events across Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe so when newly crowned world champion Luke Humphries considered his next aim, there was only one answer.
“This sport is going to the moon,” he said, noting that those great foundations of British sport – cricket, rugby and football – were now very popular.
If that seems unlikely, consider the evidence. Wednesday’s final was the most watched live sporting event outside of football in the entire history of Sky Sports. This is a network that has screened the Ashes, the Ryder Cup, the Six Nations, Formula One and US Masters golf. Footballers, politicians and celebrities are also taking note, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rushing to type a congratulatory message and culture secretary Lucy Frazer taking a photo opportunity of herself alongside Littler.
It was the week that darts briefly brought the nation to a standstill and they all raise a number of questions: was this a temporary aberration before the traditional sport was pushed to the brink or are we witnessing a seismic shift in the plates? And what else for the entertainment/sporting phenomenon that is the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation)?
The answer depends on whether you’ve been paying attention to the 30 years since they staged their inaugural World Championship inside a complex called the Circus Tavern, off the A road in Purfleet.
In the first final, sponsored by Skol lager, Dennis ‘The Menace’ Priestley beat Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor to the first prize of £16,000. Yes, £16,000 compared to the £500,000 available long before Littler became the most famous 16-year-old in the country.
The point, then, is this: it makes no sense for elite darts to now quietly know its place and retreat to the back room of a pub. That horse was beaten a long time ago. This is now a sport with deep roots in the form of alcohol-free academies for children, a huge tournament structure around the globe, and a professional circuit at the top where players can become millionaires. The biggest headache for Barry Hearn, whose company Matchroom is owned by the PDC, is finding ways to meet demand and bring more people into the Alexandra Palace arena where the ambitious capacity of 3,200 now feels constrained.
Crowds in excess of 10,000 in Germany and the Netherlands, where darts are also popular, as well as venues such as Manchester’s AO Arena and the O2 in London are already popular in the weekly Premier League series. The current agreement with Alexandra Palace expires next year and it has been suggested that an even larger function room could be used within a venue synonymous with darts. So too there is a further increase to the current 96 player 16 day schedule.
‘Littler means darts can get bigger’
Listen to Littler’s rise as “icing on the cake” and he’s bursting with ideas about new markets, new broadcasters, and of course more money, although some people are “still looking down their noses” at what’s going on. created.
“Just when you think, ‘we’re doing really well, we’re establishing ourselves as a major global sport, it couldn’t get any better’ suddenly Luke Littler appears and you realize ‘Bloody hell, it can let’s get better’,” says Hearn.
Nobody is obviously better at talking about their product than Hearn but his track record is also impressive. He predicts that the growing darts will be a “mix of everything” and keenly understands the need to create something of a regular soap opera to attract viewers beyond the annual big show.
With that, this year’s Premier League, which is a weekly 17-week competition running from the beginning of February to the end of May, has never had a better opportunity. Agreed on a three-part behind-the-scenes documentary simply called Darts it will also be essential for familiarity with more casual fans. Creating a compelling year-round narrative was the catalyst that helped Hearn oversee snooker in the 1980s, a time he still fondly calls “Dallas with balls”.
One key difference for snooker is that Hearn seems to have a happier group of players who, led by Littler and Humphries, are desperate to get their sport off the ground.
Leeds United fan Humphries is already planning a trophy parade around Elland Road. And, although he claims he’s not a “boring person” following some pointed opinion online, he seems perfectly happy in Littler’s shadow. “Luke grew it more than anyone could have imagined,” says Humphries. “He’s a celebrity now. I may be the world champion, but he clearly has more followers than I do. That’s the best thing about darts: there are so many different personalities.”
As for Littler himself, who seemed like so many children watching the final from the St Helens Darts Academy, they had a simple desire. “Hopefully I’ve inspired a lot of young people to just get on the board and give it a try,” he said. “It’s a good sport and, once you get into it, you’ll always love it.”
