Few sports activities have witnessed a change as dramatic as darts in recent times.
From its origins as a pub recreation stereotypically performed with cigarette and beer in hand, darts is now critical enterprise.
With surging tv scores and large demand for dwell occasions, the expansion of darts continues to go away many sports activities trying on in envy.
There was a mix of things at play – not least one exceptionally prodigious teenager. Earlier than discussing these elements, it’s price taking a more in-depth take a look at the numbers.
Turning into massive enterprise
Darts sits alongside a choose few sports activities to have achieved important industrial development over the previous decade.
Whereas not on the scale of sports activities such because the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Formula 1, the rise of darts has been prolific.
In the UK, a record-breaking peak of three.7 million viewers watched the 2024 Skilled Darts Company (PDC) World Championship closing. It was Sky Sports activities’ highest-ever non-soccer broadcast.
Along with the PDC World Championship – the game’s premier knockout occasion – viewership information have been additionally damaged throughout the 2024 Premier League Darts season, a league-format competitors that includes weekly fixtures between top-ranked gamers.
On the UK’s Sky Sports activities, the 15 most-watched nights within the competitors’s historical past all occurred that yr.
The PDC World Championship and Premier League Darts sit alongside the World Matchplay because the “Triple Crown” of most important darts events.
Exterior the UK, darts viewership additionally continues to develop.
The Netherlands stays a powerful and increasing heartland, whereas in Germany, viewership for the World Championship closing has increased eightfold since 2008.
In Australia, exact viewing figures usually are not extensively obtainable, however the Foxtel Group’s landmark four-year deal with the PDC in 2023 suggests rising demand.
Surging audiences are translating into considerably bigger broadcast offers.
In 2025, Sky Sports activities reportedly outbid Netflix to secure a new £125 million (A$260.3 million) deal for unique UK protection of the PDC for 2026–30. That was double the scale of the earlier deal.
In distinction, many different sports activities face stagnation and even sharp declines in media rights worth.
As an example, the UK Tremendous League rugby’s rights on Sky Sports activities fell from £40 million (A$83.3 million) per season in 2021 to £21.5 million (A$44.5 million) in 2024.
Equally, in soccer, the French Ligue 1’s TV deal with DAZN collapsed attributable to underwhelming subscriber numbers. In the meantime, ESPN walked away from its long-standing settlement with Main League Baseball after unsuccessfully attempting to chop its US$550 million (A$848 million) annual fee down to $200 million (A$309 million).
Prize cash in darts has additionally exploded.
Subsequent yr, the winner of the two-week lengthy World Championship will bank £1 million (A$2.08 million) – doubling this yr’s purse.
The prize cash was £60,000 (A$124,960) in 2005, representing a 1,567% improve over 20 years.
Tickets are additionally scorching property. Premier League and World Championship classes typically sell out within minutes worldwide: the UK, Bahrain, New York and even Wollongong have turn out to be key stops in darts’ international calendar.
The recipe for fulfillment
Like Method 1 and the UFC, darts advantages from being privately operated.
With out the everyday forms and conflicting pursuits seen in lots of conventional sport governing our bodies, the PDC can reply extra rapidly to audience preferences and market opportunities.
This streamlined, commercially pushed strategy has been key to darts’ development.
The game has been expertly tailor-made to trendy audiences.
One among darts’ best-known promoting factors is the live event experience. The entertainment-first strategy is understood for loud music, the showmanship of participant walk-ons, fancy gown from the group and sure, typically loads of alcohol.
The strains are blurred between sport and celebration and followers find it irresistible.
Culturally, darts is seen by many as enjoyable, relatable, and rooted in working-class tradition. In spite of everything, its heritage is within the pub.
Darts is ideally suited to trendy sport media consumption habits: PLD matches final solely 20–half-hour and the up-close TV product works completely for social media spotlight clips.
It is usually one of many few sports activities the place girls compete immediately in opposition to males.
This provides one other layer of curiosity for followers and has helped elevate stars similar to Fallon Sherrock, who made headlines in 2019 by turning into the first woman to win a match on the PDC World Championship, finally reaching the ultimate 32.
A prodigy emerges
The so-called “Littler Effect” has given darts’ profile a big enhance.
The emergence of gifted teenager Luke Littler has damaged new floor for the game and drawn world curiosity.
The English prodigy, who has rapidly risen to fame, is by far the game’s largest star, however it might be unfair to say darts is a one-man band.
Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen get pleasure from important profiles whereas Phil Taylor is thought to be the game’s best participant. Australia’s Simon “The Wizard” Whitlock additionally solid a profitable profession.
There may be additionally vibrant two-time world champion Peter Wright.
The place to from right here?
The success of darts reveals a lot about trendy sports activities audiences and their preferences.
Darts doesn’t depend on conventional concepts of athletic excellence, nor does it match the Olympic excellent.
But, darts is flourishing whereas many traditional sports are stagnating.
Darts’ success stems from remaining genuine to its working-class roots whereas evolving into a fascinating industrial product fitted to tv, short-form content material and digital media.
For darts to totally obtain its world potential, the following step must be continued worldwide development. Though it has grown steadily in markets like Australia and all through Asia, the UK stays darts’ dominant base.
As the worldwide sports activities market turns into extra fragmented and aggressive, darts is effectively positioned to proceed rising.
