Luke Littler v Luke Humphries darts final smashes Ryder Cup record on Sky Sports
PDC World Darts Championship final between Luke Littler and Luke Humphries sets new non-football record audience on Sky Sports.
British sports promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed the World Darts Championship final between Luke Littler and Luke Humphries smashed record Ryder Cup viewing figures by setting the highest ever non-football audience on Sky Sports.
The 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Rome set a new record for the biennial contest on Sky Sports with a total of 3.7m viewers from September 29 to October 1.
Across the three days of action that saw Europe defeat USA by five points, Sky Sports averaged 785k viewers per day, which was a 38% increase on '21 and 25% increase on '18.
The historic event also saw a noticeable uptick in younger fans watching, with 14% more under 35s tuning in than in 2021.
But while those record viewing figures for the Ryder Cup may have warmed our hearts, they were well and truly trumped by the PDC World Darts Championship.
That was largely down to 16-year-old superstar Luke 'The Nuke' Littler becoming the youngest ever player to reach the final on January 3.
2024 PDC World Darts Championship sets new non-football record on Sky
According to Hearn, the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final reached a 3.71m peak audience and a total audience of 4.8m.
Even Littler's semi-final victory over former winner Rob Cross smashed an individual day's viewing figures at the Ryder Cup with a 2.32m audience.
Scrap that!!!! 3.71m peak and
4.8m total audience for the final last night..highest ever non football audience on @SkySports - darts is MASSIVE! https://t.co/RVQlf9uwHD— Eddie Hearn (@EddieHearn) January 4, 2024
The former Sky Sports record for a darts match was 1.65m when Gary Anderson beat Phil Taylor 7-6 in 2015.
Littler moved into an early 4-2 lead but he was eventually defeated by World No.1 Humphries 7-4.
Humphries took home a cheque for £500,000, while Littler earned a cool £200,000.
What do you make of one game of darts trumping three days of Ryder Cup coverage on Sky Sports? What did you make of Littler's performance? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
