Luke Littler-driven interest sees record breaking viewing figures for competition

Sky darts final

Premier League Darts’ opening night drew more than double its 2023 opener’s viewing figures.

The record-breaking evening saw a peak of 667,000 tuning in to watch a night that included a repeat of the Darts World Championship final between Luke Littler and Luke Humphries - with Littler winning out this time. There was an average of 450,000 viewers throughout, with Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall, Rob Price, and Peter Wright making up the rest of the lineup.

This was the highest ever viewership for the competition, with a 45% higher average and 35% higher peak than the previous record - which was set in the last week of the 2015 edition. Compared with other opening nights, the average is 85% higher and the peak 100% higher than the previous record set last year. Overall viewers of the event came to 910,000, a 63% increase from the opening night last year.

Interest in darts has soared since 17-year-old Littler, who was 16 at the time, made an unexpected run to the final of the World Championship last year. The final between the teenager and Humphries, which Humphries won, reached 4.8 million, and a docuseries has been commissioned by Sky.