The 2024 PDC World Championship final between winner Luke Humphries and 16-year-old Luke Littler broke records across the board last Wednesday.
Sky Sports revealed that the darts final became the most-watched non-football event in its history at 4.8 million viewers. Sports betting operator Kambi also revealed that the final was the most bet-on darts match in the company’s history.
The PDC World Championship final peaked at 3.71 million viewers – a 143% increase from last year’s final – tuning in to see Humphries win his first world championship after beating Littler 7-4, becoming the most-watched darts match ever on Sky Sports.
The teenage darts prodigy Littler caught the UK’s imagination throughout his journey in his debut competition in a bid to become the youngest-ever darts world champion.
Littler’s 6-2 semi-final victory over Rob Cross drew in an audience of 2.32 million which at the time became the most watched darts match on Sky Sports, confirmed by PDC Chairman Eddie Hearn.
The PDC World Championship also drew in waves of online and social media engagement, with the final bringing in 27.6 million video views across all Sky Sport’ social media channels.
The Sky Sports Darts X account garnered 9.9 million video views for the final alone, with the entire tournament attracting over 149 million impressions trumping the 16.5 million figure from last year’s competition.
But it wasn’t just TV and online figures that were being broken, as Kambi revealed that the 2024 final saw betting activity increase by 45% last Wednesday night and a record for total darts bets placed on the tournament for the betting operator.
What may be even more impressive is the rise in betting activity on the final in the US, which is not viewed as a large darts market.
Kambi revealed that Luke ‘the Nuke’ Littler caused a “surge in enthusiasm for darts” in the US with betting activity for the tournament rising by 63% from last year.
Simon Noy, SVP of Trading at Kambi, hailed Littler’s run to the final as a catalyst for attracting “worldwide attention” to the sport.
He 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.”
Sky Sports and Kambi will hope that Littler’s involvement in the Premier League Darts will continue the momentum for not just himself, but the entire sport as he was announced for the competition yesterday.
Other Premier League participants include the newly crowned world champion and world number one Humphries, alongside Michael Van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall.
