Darts boss seeks to capitalise on Littler’s ‘transformational’ run

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The organisers of the World Darts Championship are targeting overseas growth in markets such as south-east Asia, after the fairytale run of teenage sensation Luke Littler gave the sport a “transformational” moment.

Matthew Porter, chief executive of the Professional Darts Corporation, said the company was looking to boost the sport’s international profile after coming close to saturation point in the UK, its main market.

“It has to be from overseas that transformational growth comes”, he said. “Our aim is for darts to become a genuinely global sport.”

PDC has a broadcast deal with Sky Sports in the UK that runs until the end of next year, although negotiations on renewing the contract are set to begin soon.

Those talks will take place in the afterglow of a record-breaking World Championships at the 3,200 capacity Alexandra Palace in London. The final on Wednesday night, in which 16-year old Littler lost to Luke Humphries, the world’s top ranked player, was watched by close to 5mn people in the UK. Sky Sports said it was a record on the channel for a non-football event, and an increase of 143 per cent on last year.

It was also broadcast live in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and a handful of other countries where darts is popular.

“We’ve had 20 years of moving upwards, but every now and then something happens that expedites that growth”, said Porter. “This moment feels transformational.”

Porter, who became chief executive of Leyton Orient football club in 2006 at the age of 26 before joining PDC as chief executive two years later, said that Littler’s run to the final had helped broaden the demographic of the fan base, bringing in new, younger fans. “Darts is something people can relate to, and Luke is a very relatable character. You wouldn’t go to watch a Premier League [football] match and think ‘oh I could do that’.”

Since Porter became chief executive, PDC has enjoyed a long period of steady growth. Annual prize money offered by PDC competitions has risen from £3mn to £16mn last year, largely thanks to broadcast income but also sponsorship and ticket sales.

Humphries won £500,000 for winning the world championship while Littler pocketed £200,000. There are 128 players on the PDC roster, around 80 of them make a living solely from darts.

With live professional darts events in the UK typically selling out, PDC has been looking to grow the game elsewhere in Europe, Japan, the US and Australia.

Porter, 43, singled out south-east Asia as somewhere with “big potential” for the company because of the large number of players in the region. While Asian growth stalled during the pandemic, now was the moment to “re-establish our presence there”, he said.

“The advantage of darts is that it’s played everywhere in the world. You don’t have to introduce people to it, you just have to change the way it’s packaged”, Porter added. “It’s important we put to bed that pub-based image. It’s not what people perceived it to be in the ‘80s and ‘90s. It’s played by genuine professional athletes.”

Since 2001, PDC has been part of Essex-based Matchroom Sport, the events company owned by father and son duo Barry and Eddie Hearn. In addition to darts, Matchroom organises and promotes an eclectic mix of professional sporting events, including boxing matches, snooker tournaments and Fish ‘O’ Mania, a competitive fishing contest.