Professional darts player Luke Littler has signed a sponsorship deal with gaming brand Xbox ahead of the return of the World Darts Championship (WDC) this weekend.
The 17-year old player, who came second in the WDC final last year against Luke Humphries, will wear the logos of Xbox and its Score More rewards scheme during this year’s tournament.
“I’m looking forward to partnering with Xbox and bringing two of my biggest passions together – darts and gaming,” Littler remarked.
“I hope I can provide fans with as many rewards as possible through my performances at the PDC World Darts Championship and help them score more with Xbox.”
Littler, nicknamed ‘Luke the Nuke’, exploded onto the darts scene last year with a huge amount of publicity around both his strong performance and his young age in a traditionally niche sport.
His partnership with Xbox is also a good example of brand alignment due to the player’s well publicised love of gaming. He has gained a lot of attention in particular as a fan of the FIFA and EA Sports FC football game series.
To capitalise on this, Xbox and Littler have incorporated a fan reward element into the newly announced partnership. Every time Littler scores a 180 or nine dart finish or wins a match, a series of fan prizes will be unveiled, mainly centred around the EA Sports FC 25 title.
“As a huge Xbox fan, it only made sense for us to team up with Luke and celebrate his love for gaming in a way that felt authentic,” said Samuel Bateman, Xbox Gaming Marketing Lead for the UK and Ireland.
“We’re wishing him every success in the upcoming PDC World Darts Championship and encourage fans in the UK to keep their eyes on Xbox UK socials to be in with a chance of winning some awesome prizes, all thanks to his extraordinary performances.”
Darts has emerged as one of the defining sports of the Christmas period in the UK, with the WDC running from mid December to early January. This year’s tournament will commence on Sunday 15 December and conclude on 3 January.
The championship has subsequently become a popular target for marketing teams, with Irish bookmaker Paddy Power one of the most visible brands. The company renewed its ‘Big 180’ campaign this year, a charitable initiative which donates money to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 scored in the WDC.
