Sky extends partnership with the PDC to remain the home of darts until 2030

Following another record-breaking PDC World Darts Championship on Sky Sports last month and ahead of the 2025 Premier League Darts season starting this week, Sky and the Professional Darts Corporation have today announced a five-year partnership extension keeping Sky Sports as the home of darts until 2030, marking nearly 40 years of collaboration.

The new deal will include over 60 days of exclusively live coverage from the biggest darts tournaments every year including the PDC World Darts Championship, Premier League, World Matchplay, Grand Slam of Darts, World Grand Prix and World Cup of Darts.

Sky has been the long-term broadcast partner of the PDC since 1993 and has played an integral role in the sport’s growth and evolution over this time.

Viewing reached new heights last year when a record audience of over 4.8m people tuned in to watch the 2023/24 PDC World Darts Championship final between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, with a peak audience of 3.71m, the highest ever non-football peak on Sky Sports. Darts mania didn’t stop there, as fan interest sustained throughout the year; Sky also seeing record viewing figures for the Premier League in 2024, with all top 15 nights ever coming from last year’s tournament, while the average audience for the 2024/25 World Darts Championship was up 29% year-on-year.

This growth has also been prevalent across social media, with 8.2m views on the Sky Sports Darts YouTube channel throughout the 2024/25 World Darts Championship, representing an increase of 78% year-on-year, while YouTube views on the day of the final were up 128%.

Jonathan Licht, Managing Director of Sky Sports, said: “The incredible growth in darts viewership on Sky Sports over the last 12 months shows just how much the nation loves this sport. The extraordinary story of last year’s World Championship helped to welcome new younger audiences to the sport and brought increased excitement for fans. 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.”

PDC Chief Executive, Matt Porter said: [i"Sky Sports has been by our side for over 30 years and we’re excited to extend our partnership for the next five years as we experience a surge in growth globally. We’ve gone from strength to strength in recent years as a sport, and the record viewing figures and sustained interest achieved by Sky over the past year are a reflection of the unprecedented popularity of PDC events at present. 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"[/i]

Sky has cemented its position as the home of sport over the last 18 months, securing the rights to key sports until the end of the decade, including the Premier League, Women’s Super League, ATP and WTA Tours, NBA, and ICC cricket. With darts joining those, as well as award-winning coverage of Formula 1, over 1000 EFL games, every golf Major, NFL, England Netball, Super League, boxing and more, Sky Sports customers can enjoy more certainty than ever before. With the launch of Sky Sports+ just last year, sports fans now have an unrivalled amount of choice and ways to watch their favourite teams and sports on Sky and streaming service NOW.

Next up for darts fans this year is the 2025 Premier League season, which begins on Thursday 6 February, with fans being able watch all the action exclusively live on Sky Sports and NOW from a 17-week season which runs until the end of May.

To complement the live action, Sky’s latest darts docuseries Game of Throws: Inside Darts is available to watch now on demand, giving viewers unprecedented behind-the-scenes access at the 2023/24 PDC World Darts Championship. For fans who want to reminisce about the golden age of darts, Dart Kings, a brand-new docuseries featuring Eric Bristow, Jocky Wilson, and Phil Taylor, is also available on demand.

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The Professional Darts Corporation operates a £16 million global tour, headlined by the flagship Paddy Power World Darts Championship and four-month BetMGM Premier League.

Alongside the main professional tour - which include over a dozen televise events each year - the PDC also operates second-tier Challenge and Development Tours, a Women’s Series and supports global affiliate tours and the Junior Darts Corporation, providing pathways for all players from first beginning in the sport to becoming World Champion.

Hugely popular PDC events are staged annually around the world, including the UK, Europe, US, Bahrain, Australia and New Zealand.