4.8m people prove the nation really does love the darts

• The ‘battle of the Lukes’ attracted the highest ever non-football audience on record for Sky Sports
• The final was the most watched darts event ever on Sky and NOW
• Sky Documentaries has today announced the commission of an access-all-areas premium documentary series, Darts

A record audience of over 4.8m people tuned in to watch 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final last night, making it the most watched darts event ever on Sky and NOW.

With darts fever sweeping the nation, a peak audience of 3.71m watched Luke ‘Cool Hand’ Humphries claim his first ever World Darts Championship title, a 143% increase on the 2023 final – now famed for Wayne Mardle’s iconic “I can’t spake” commentary of Michael Smith’s nine-darter.

The record figure represents the highest ever non-football peak on Sky Sports, with the WDC final adding to a whole host of audience records in the last 12 months on Sky Sports including the Premier League, Women’s Super League, Men’s and Women’s Ashes, Ryder and Solheim Cup, and NFL.

Darts mania has also been seen across social media with 27.6m WDC final video views across Sky Sports’ social channels last night. On Sky Sports Darts (X), there has been 149.1m impressions across the whole tournament and 9.9m video views of content around the final alone (compared to 16.5m for all of the 2023 tournament). The impressive figures continued across Instagram – 11.8m video views - and a 10.2m total reach on Facebook. Millions also flocked to Sky Sports.com and app, with 2.44m following the live blog – up 307% YOY compared to Michael Van Gerwen v Michael Smith (648k).

Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports Managing Director, said: “Even more of the nation have fallen in love with the darts over the last few weeks and as a long-term partner of the PDC, we are thrilled that this most entertaining of sports is in the spotlight. Over 4.8m people tuned in to watch the remarkable final last night, making it the most watched non-football sports event ever on Sky and NOW. Our congratulations to both Lukes and to all the players who contributed to such a memorable World Championship. We can’t wait for the Premier League event to get started in February"

Matt Porter, Chief Executive PDC, said: [i"This year’s World Championship was record-breaking on every level and it’s fitting that its final reached the biggest audience in the history of the PDC and Sky darts. The two Lukes delivered an amazing contest that kept us all on the edge of our seats and finished off a thrilling and dramatic tournament in memorable fashion.[/i]

“The World Darts Championship is a staple part of Christmas viewing, delivering drama and suspense with every match and it sets up perfectly what is sure to be a phenomenal year for darts.”

As the darts continues to dominate the column inches, Sky Documentaries has today announced the commission of an access-all-areas premium documentary series Darts (w/t), which will follow the stories of the players beyond the oche and will be available on Sky and NOW later this year.

Sky Sports is the home of darts with over 60 days of exclusively live coverage from the biggest tournaments every year including the World Darts Championship plus the Premier League, World Matchplay, Grand Slam of Darts, World Grand Prix and World Cup of Darts.

Notes to editors

Darts (w/t) is produced by Dorothy St Pictures for Sky and co-produced with US-based Meadowlark in conjunction with the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation).

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