Luke Littler at the World Cup: The dartboards are sold out

The teenager is a “tremendous asset,” says Porter, because he has brought the sport to the attention of many who previously had no connection to it. The total of around 100,000 tickets for the World Cup that had just started in London’s Alexandra Palace were sold out immediately after they went on sale. The PDC estimates that three times as many tickets could have been sold. The number of members of the Junior Darts Corporation, founded for children, has recently doubled to more than 3,000; There are partnerships with darts bases and academies in countries such as Australia, Bulgaria, Mongolia and the USA.

Junior boss Steven Brown, 43, recently admitted to the BBC that he used to be “pretty embarrassed” to tell his friends about his darts hobby: Today it is seen as “a cool thing” in schools. Littler’s sponsor, Target Darts, expects to sell more than 100,000 children’s dart boards branded “Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler” by Christmas. That’s what the teenager on the darts stage calls himself: Atomic Bomb. The magnetic boards would then be sold out.

Littler is something like the successor to Phil Taylor, who left in 2018

Before his breakthrough, Littler benefited extensively from the new youth series; he played on the junior tour and then on the development tour. Darts players are, figuratively speaking, “no longer born in pubs,” says Porter. In the past, you actually had to register for them in order to have a chance of receiving funding and competitions.

Looking back, Porter says it was the right decision to invest in youth development: That is the key to new stars in every sport when the old ones can no longer do it at some point. For the PDC, Littler is likely to be the successor to Phil Taylor, who stepped down in 2018, who dominated darts for over three decades and made it known to a wider sporting audience.

Compared to Taylor’s beginnings, the entire scene and its players have become more professional; they now train, live and market themselves like top athletes in other sports; The international tournament calendar offers little freedom. When he got into darts, Porter says, players’ sports shirts often had stickers from friends who were sponsoring money stuck on them. Now everything from social media to walk-on music is organized by professionals, says Porter.

The reform came from the PDC. She transformed darts, which is originally less suitable for a live visit due to the small targets, into a spectator magnet. The World Cup at the end of the year at Ally Pally is considered the biggest sports party in the world: “A Tuesday afternoon feels like a Saturday evening here,” jokes Porter. The fascination? On the one hand, darts is a “social experience” because most people come in smaller groups; and because it’s not so much about who plays when. Porter believes that the fact that it is primarily about the experience is a unique selling point of darts. Because in football, the 44-year-old is convinced, no one would seriously claim that their own club lost 4-0 – but the day was still great because the food was good and the weather was nice (which was the case around the Ally Pally, however, is not necessarily given).

The World Cup in Saudi Arabia in the future? This step would be lucrative but controversial

In addition to the exuberance of the fans, the quality of the matches is crucial for the atmosphere in Alexandra Palace. The crowd demands tension and drama as well as the so-called high finishes. And of course the maximum score of “180” with only three darts thrown. A party is “garbage” if you deliver trash, says Porter. That’s why it’s important for the PDC to have a balanced field of participants, in which even the lesser-known players sometimes perform remarkably well. During the breaks, the PDC helps with karaoke or cheerleaders.

Unlike most organizations that manage a sport, the PDC is not a traditional association but a commercial entity. It is under the control of the marketing agency Matchroom Sport, which in turn is majority chaired by the British promoter Barry Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. This structure allows the PDC to make “flexible, independent and quick decisions,” explains Porter. In his view, the promotion of competing sports is sometimes curtailed by bureaucracy in the associations and the self-interests of the officials.

Recently there have been recurring rumors about a tournament being held in Saudi Arabia. There was speculation about moving the World Cup to the desert state. That would be financially lucrative, but highly controversial given the human rights situation there. Porter says there are “no ongoing discussions” with Saudi Arabia and “no near-term likelihood” of competition in that country. But he wouldn’t want to rule it out in the future. Just a few months ago, Matchroom agreed with the Saudi ministry on a snooker tournament for the next ten years. According to estimates, Hearn’s Matchroom portfolio is worth a billion euros, partly because of the rapidly growing interest in darts.

Before the World Cup, Barry Hearn spoke of a “Littler mania” that would spread everywhere. The PDC has placed Littler’s opening match in the best possible broadcast slot, in prime time next Saturday evening. The teenager is one of the favorites. The Guardian commented that Luke Littler represents “the spirit” of darts: it’s about great skill as well as teasing and camaraderie. And about not taking yourself too seriously.