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Darts Corner In The News

Darts Corner In The News

Alex Moss |

Darts has attracted plenty of attention in the last week with 16-year-old Luke Littler’s record-breaking run to the PDC World Darts Championship final. A record Sky Sports audience of 4.8 million tuned in to watch the tournament’s thrilling conclusion, which saw Luke Humphries edge out the teenage star 7-4 to be crowned world champion for the first time.

The extra interest in the world of darts has been front page news and has even reached us here at Darts Corner too, with our managing director Craig Heenighan appearing as a guest on several radio shows and being interviewed for the ITV News website.

Speaking to ITV, Heenighan believes Littler’s performances at Alexandra Palace have inspired a new and younger generation: “I think with the younger boys and girls around the country, looking at Luke Littler, at the age of 16… We’ve all seen the videos on TV of him playing (darts) in his nappy at 18 months old.

“I think that (says to) a new generation that darts is actually quite cool. And (they think): ‘I could be quite good at darts.’ And I think it just breathes new life, perhaps, into a new generation looking at the sport.”

Our managing director also joined Will Bain on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money programme (around 49 minutes onwards) on the morning after the final. Heenighan spoke about the impact Littler’s eye-catching run at the World Darts Championship has had on sales at Darts Corner.

“It’s been exceptionally busy,” he said. “Every year the darts industry is super seasonal, but this last three weeks has particularly caught us by surprise.

“There’s definitely been a spike in large products like dartboards, surrounds, cabinets and home darts centres. We saw a huge spike during Covid when we were all at home and families invested heavily in darts.

“As a nation, we’ve all seen the videos of Luke Littler in a nappy throwing at a magnetic dartboard. From an industry perspective we’ve seen a spike in magnetic dartboard sales in the last three or four weeks.”

On BBC Radio Stoke with Stuart George (around 27 minutes onwards), Heenighan discussed the continued growth of darts and why he expects it only to get bigger off the back of an historic World Darts Championship.

“I think anytime darts goes from back page to front page clearly helps,” he said.

“We’ve had a really good mix of returning darts enthusiasts buying a little bit more and new customers buying their first bits of equipment.

“The last couple of years darts continues to grow and grow and there’s been a boost this year with Luke Littler’s publicity and popularity.

“Darts has been growing anyway with every televised event and how its marketed and publicised. There are some personalities in the game, and it continues to go from strength to strength.”

 

Has Luke Littler inspired you or your kids? Read our ‘How To Choose Darts For Beginners’ for the perfect guide for newcomers getting into the world of darts for the first time. Our ‘How To Become A Darts Pro’ blog also outlines how you can follow in the footsteps of Luke Littler and the newly crowned world champion Luke Humphries and join them on the professional darts circuit.

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