Sky Sports activities will stay the house of darts within the UK and Eire till 2030 after Sky prolonged its partnership with the Skilled Darts Company.
The five-year extension to the partnership, introduced on Tuesday following one other record-breaking World Darts Championship received by Luke Littler, will take the interval of collaboration between Sky and the PDC to virtually 40 years.
The brand new deal will embrace over 60 days of completely reside protection from the largest darts tournaments yearly together with the World Darts Championship, Premier League, World Matchplay, Grand Slam of Darts, World Grand Prix and World Cup of Darts.
The announcement comes simply two days earlier than the beginning of the 2025 Premier League in Belfast, which can see teenage sensation Littler start the defence of his title.
Sky has been the long-term broadcast accomplice of the PDC since 1993 and has performed an integral position within the sport’s progress and evolution over this time.
Sky Sports activities managing director Jonathan Licht stated: “The unimaginable progress in darts viewership on Sky Sports activities during the last 12 months exhibits simply how a lot the nation loves this sport. The extraordinary story of final yr’s World Championship helped to welcome new youthful audiences to the game and introduced elevated pleasure for followers.
“Following another successful tournament, there seems no better time to extend our longstanding partnership with the PDC to remain the home of this uniquely brilliant sport. We’re excited to keep innovating to tell the stories and bring fans closer to the action through our unrivalled coverage of the biggest darts tournaments for the next five years.”
Viewing reached new heights final yr when a file viewers of over 4.8m individuals tuned in to look at the 2023/24 World Darts Championship closing as Luke Humphries beat a then 16-year-old Littler, with a peak viewers of three.71m, the best ever non-football peak on Sky Sports activities.
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Watch among the finest walk-ons from the World Darts Championship 2025 together with Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall and Ricky Evans
Darts mania did not cease there, as fan curiosity sustained all year long; with Sky additionally seeing file viewing figures for the Premier League in 2024, with the 15 finest nights ever all coming from final yr’s event, whereas the common viewers for the 2024/25 World Darts Championship was up 29 per cent year-on-year as Litter beat Michael van Gerwen within the closing.
This progress has additionally been prevalent throughout social media, with 8.2m views on the Sky Sports activities Darts YouTube channel all through the 2024/25 World Darts Championship, representing a rise of 78 per cent year-on-year, whereas YouTube views on the day of the ultimate have been up 128 per cent.
PDC chief government Matt Porter stated: “Sky Sports activities has been by our facet for over 30 years and we’re excited to increase our partnership for the following 5 years as we expertise a surge in progress globally. We have gone from energy to energy lately as a sport, and the file viewing figures and sustained curiosity achieved by Sky over the previous yr are a mirrored image of the unprecedented reputation of PDC occasions at current.
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Highlights of Luke Littler towards Michael van Gerwen within the closing of the World Darts Championship
“We’re determined to continue this growth in the coming years and it’s hugely important for us to have Sky working with us to help deliver more exciting tournaments for players, fans and viewers.”
Sky has cemented its place as the house of sport during the last 18 months, securing the rights to key sports activities till the top of the last decade, together with the Premier League, Girls’s Tremendous League, ATP and WTA Excursions, NBA, and ICC cricket.
With darts becoming a member of these, in addition to award-winning protection of Formulation 1, over 1,000 EFL video games, each golf Main, NFL, England Netball, Tremendous League, boxing and extra, Sky Sports activities clients can take pleasure in extra certainty than ever earlier than.
Watch Premier League Darts 2025 completely reside on Sky Sports activities each Thursday from February 6 to Could 29. Not Obtained Sky? Get Sky Sports activities or stream no contract on NOW đź“ş
