Matt Craig is a reporter based in Los Angeles covering the business of Hollywood, entertainment, sports and gaming for Forbes. He has profiled billionaires like Dick Wolf and Magic Johnson, reported on high profile dealmaking, and edited 30 Under 30 lists.
Luke Littler , the 17-year-old British phenom, isn’t old enough to buy a beer or drive a car, but he has scored millions of dollars in the world of professional darts—and minted millions of new fans.othing has been the same for Luke Littler since December, when the story of a mild-mannered 16-year-old British phenom advancing to the finals of the Professional Darts Corporation World Championships turned him into an overnight celebrity in the United Kingdom.
The major title netted Littler $350,000, bringing his total prize money to just over $825,000 since January. When combined with endorsements, royalties and appearance fees,projects Littler will earn more than $1.5 million in 2024. Matt Porter, CEO of the Professional Darts Corporation, predicts Littler will finish among the top three earners in the sport at the end of the year. “I don't really look towards ,” Littler says of his earning potential.
Littler’s emergence as the sport’s biggest star, someone capable of minting new darts fans—the so-called “Luke Littler effect”—could mean even more for the bottom line of, the Brentwood, U.K.-based company that owns the PDC and, by extension, essentially the sport of professional darts. It’s already a lucrative business for Matchroom, producing estimated net profits of more than $28 million in the fiscal year 2023 on $63 million in revenue.
That became obvious to Porter during Littler’s fourth round World Championship match against Raymond Van Barneveld in December, which had 1.5 million viewers on Sky Sports, up from 400,000 viewers on the corresponding date the year prior and nearly matching the sport’s all-time viewership peak of 1.65 million. By the semifinals, Littler’s match had crushed the record with 2.4 million viewers, topped again by 3.7 million watching the final.
Professional Darts Corporation Luke Littler Darts Luke Littler Nine Darter Luke Littler Phil Taylor Luke Littler PDC Luke Littler Matchroom Barry Hearn Luke Littler Effect
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