Paddy Power hit a solid 180 from a marketing and social responsibility standpoint over the festive season via its highly-publicised sponsorship of the World Darts Championship (WDC).
The Flutter Entertainment-owned bookmaker had pledged to donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 hit during the contest, with the total fund at the end of the tournament standing at £914,000 after a record amount of 180s hit during the tournament.
Paddy Power had hoped that 1,000 180s would be hit to reach a total of £1m in donations. However, with the 914 180s resulting in the abovementioned figure, the Irish firm opted to round up its donations to £1m.
Rachael Kane, Spokesperson for Paddy Power, informed SBC: “We have just confirmed we will be rounding our donation to Prostate Cancer UK up to £1m following last night’s record breaking final.
“The Luke’s helped smash the previous record of 901 180s and between the players hit 914 maximums. We pledged to donate £1k to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 struck during the tournament, so rounding it up felt like the right thing to do following an absolutely epic start to our Paddy Power World Darts Championship sponsorship.”
Significantly from a marketing perspective, last night’s WDC Final match between ‘Cool Hand’ Luke Humphries and Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler was the most watched final in the tournament’s history with 3.75 million viewers on Sky Sports.
16-year old Cheshire player Littler had caught a great deal of media attention throughout the tournament due to his age and ability and, by hitting 63 180s, indirectly raised £63,000 for Paddy Power’s The Big 180 campaign with Prostate Cancer UK.
However, ultimate 2024 world champion Humphries would hit 73 180s over the three-week competition and was awarded Paddy Power’s ‘Ballon d’Art trophy’ for raising £73,000 for the charity.
Prostate Cancer UK CEO, Laura Kerby, added: “A massive thanks to Paddy Power for driving forward this campaign, for the PDC and of course those players for peppering the treble 20 bed.”
Paddy Power’s sponsorship of the WDC caught a lot of attention in the build-up to the tournament last month when the bookie released an announcement stating that it would turn the treble 20 on the dartboard green, in line with its branding colours.
This would later emerge to be a stunt by the operator to draw attention to The Big 180 campaign and Prostate Cancer UK.
Moreover, the final has proven to be a significant day for bookmakers in general, not just Paddy Power. According to B2B sportsbook provider Kambi, betting activity on its network during the match was up 45%.
Kambi’s SVP Trading, Simon Noy, said: “The PDC World Darts Championship final has always been a highlight of the sporting calendar, but interest in last night’s final was truly remarkable.
“Luke Littler’s phenomenal talent, particularly at such a young age, attracted worldwide attention, driving unprecedented interest and betting engagement globally.
“The fact Littler was playing Luke Humphries, the new world number one, in the final only added to the occasion, while our betting offer right throughout the Championships was better than ever, all contributing to a record tournament and final from a betting perspective.”
