Darts has hit the jackpot with Luke Littler, and so have his rivals.
The Littler effect is still coursing through a sport that has been catapulted into the mainstream largely thanks to a teenage phenom who is bringing new audiences to darts.
Advertisement
Lots more money, too.
The upcoming world championship — where Littler will be defending champion after winning it as a 17-year-old in January — has doubled the prize money for the winner and in the overall pot.
The title prize fund handed out in events run by the top-tier Professional Darts Corporation has risen by more than a third this season, to 25 million pounds ($33.7 million).
One of those events is the World Grand Prix, a so-called “major” in darts that is taking place in Leicester, England, starting Monday and where Belgium’s Mike De Decker is the titleholder.
“The rise of Luke has definitely been a good thing for the sport,” De Decker said on a video call. “You can see with the prize money bumped up to a million (pounds) for the winner in the worlds.
Advertisement
“It’s mainly because of him. Because he attracts more people to the sport.”
Just like with golf (Tiger Woods) and snooker (Ronnie O’Sullivan), darts has a player who is transcending a sport that was already on the rise.
Indeed, De Decker believes it has truly gone global and is no longer just big in its traditional heartlands of Britain and the Netherlands.
“I played the World Series in Australia and New Zealand and the venue was packed there as well. That’s the other side of the world,” De Decker said. “It’s getting bigger everywhere.”
De Decker has noticed that darts has been booming in his native Belgium for the past four to five years. Winning the World Grand Prix, for his first-ever major title, saw him follow in the footsteps of compatriot Dimitri van den Bergh in competing for the top events in the sport.
Advertisement
He said he now gets recognized in the street, asked for pictures and has earned better sponsorship deals. It even allowed him to buy a house a few months ago.
“It’s been a real change in my life,” he said.
On how it changed him as a player, the 20th-ranked De Decker — who had never before reached the semifinals at a major — added: “It definitely made me more complete, on stage. Before that tournament, I wasn’t really getting results in big TV tournaments, I was basically a very good floor tournament player but as soon as the cameras came on, I kind of buckled. That tournament made me realize I can play on stage as well.”
Now the quest is to win titles and compete at Littler’s standard more consistently.
Advertisement
“There’s people he brought into darts so it’s a good thing he has bumped it up,” De Decker said. “And it definitely means we have to up our level to compete with him so it’s not that easy for him to keep winning titles.
“It has been a big change in the darts world.”
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
