How Luke Littler is changing darts and attracting new fans

 

How Luke Littler is changing darts and attracting new fans

At the time of writing, Luke Littler is on course to successfully defend his Premier League title.

He became the youngest winner of the competition last year, aged just 17, and if he backs that up in a couple of weeks, he will be just the third player to retain their title.

The teenager has been in excellent form throughout 2025 and has been a regular feature for darts betting tips from FIRST in the Premier League this season.

In the space of just 17 short months, Littler has gone from talented teen to world champion and millionaire.

It all started at the 2024 World Championship, where the then 16-year-old went from a teen prodigy into the nation’s darling.

 

The 2024 World Championship was the launchpad for Littler

Littler was certainly a star in the making ahead of his first appearance on the biggest stage of all. He had won the England Youth Grand Prix and Irish Open in 2021.

More success at youth level was to come when he secured the 2023 PDC World Youth Championship, defeating Gian van Veen 6-5 in the final. This meant Littler sealed a spot in the upcoming World Championships at the Alexandria Palace.

The tournament ended up changing his life.

After beating three former world champions on route to the final, the teen was seeking to become the youngest-ever winner of the competition.

Luke Humphries proved to be a step too far for the 16-year-old prodigy, but given what he has gone on to achieve, perhaps the defeat was the catalyst for him to push the boundaries even further.

Trophies and money have followed in abundance over the previous year and a half, but Littler has changed the face of darts as we know it.

Not since the 1980s has the sport been so popular. Rising prize money, more coverage and a rapid increase in social media engagement across the likes of Instagram, Facebook and the Sky Sports app have brought the sport back into the 21st century.

The 2024 World Championship saw a total of 4.8m people tune in to watch via Sky Sports, with a peak audience of 3.71m.

This figure made history as the biggest ever for a non-football related event on Sky Sports, thrusting Littler into the stratosphere in the process.

 

Littler has ushered in a new era for darts

2024 proved to be extremely lucrative, both on and off the oche, for the teenager. Not only did he win three major titles (Premier League, World Series Finals and the Grand Slam), but he also accumulated over £1m in prize money.

PDC President, Barry Hearn, lauded the youngster after his performance at Alexandria Palace, stating that the reason for the record-breaking viewership was due to "Littlermania" and it is hard to disagree.

His arrival on the global scale has arguably been a watershed moment for darts. Of course, a new generation of players had taken over after Phil Taylor retired in 2018, notably Humphries and Gerwyn Price.

Michael van Gerwen was still the top dog in the sport, but Littler’s emergence smashed through the barrier of what can be achieved by someone who should still be at school.

Indeed, more and more children are taking up the sport due to his impact over the previous 18 months.

Littler’s childhood coach, Karl Holden, who co-founded the St Helens Youth Darts Academy in the SIDAC Social Club, described how Littler’s success has seen more and more youngsters participate in the sport.

“We had 95 kids turn up last night,” said Holden. “Kids coming into my shop, the age of 21 or under? That's 400% higher than 15 months ago.”

That is a truly incredible rise and the more he goes on to achieve in the game, these sorts of figures will surely only increase all over the country.

Following his stunning victory over Van Gerwen at the 2025 World Championship, it was announced that a peak audience of 3.1m had watched the game on Sky Sports.

This may have been slightly lower than the year before, but it is still an incredible number of people watching the sport.

Compared to the 2019 final between Van Gerwen and Michael Smith, which saw a peak audience of ‘just’ 658,300 on Sky Sports, it shows just how much the game has changed in only five years.

The Littler effect is very much alive and kicking, giving more opportunities to not only those at the upper echelons of the game but also to those starting off their careers in darts.

Of course, he is one of the most naturally talented players to play the game, evidenced by his early triumphs. His breakthrough could give hope to many younger players who will be aiming to follow in his footsteps.

Winning major titles and setting yourself up for life financially is the ultimate goal, but Littler’s greatest success might well be in attracting millions more fans to the sport and providing more opportunities for those starting out.