Sky breaks records as 4.8million watch Darts Final

Last night’s 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final attracted an unprecedented audience of over 4.8 million viewers, marking it as the most-watched darts event in history on both Sky and NOW.

With darts enthusiasm sweeping the nation, an impressive peak audience of 3.71 million witnessed Luke ‘Cool Hand’ Humphries secure his inaugural World Darts Championship title. This figure reflects a remarkable 143% increase compared to the 2023 final, renowned for Wayne Mardle’s unforgettable “I can’t spake” commentary during Michael Smith’s nine-darter.

This record-setting viewership establishes a new high for non-football peaks on Sky Sports, contributing to a series of audience records over the past year, encompassing events such as the Premier League, Women’s Super League, Men’s and Women’s Ashes, Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, and NFL.

Darts fervor also took social media by storm, with 27.6 million WDC final video views across Sky Sports’ social channels. Sky Sports Darts (X) tallied 149.1 million impressions throughout the tournament and 9.9 million video views of final-related content, surpassing the 2023 tournament’s total views of 16.5 million. Instagram recorded 11.8 million video views, and Facebook reached a total of 10.2 million. Additionally, Sky Sports.com and the app drew millions, with a live blog following of 2.44 million—a staggering 307% year-over-year increase compared to the Michael Van Gerwen v Michael Smith match in 2023.

Jonathan Licht, Sky Sports Managing Director, expressed excitement about the surge in darts popularity, emphasizing that over 4.8 million people tuned in to witness the remarkable final, making it the most-watched non-football sports event on Sky and NOW. He extended congratulations to both Lukes and all players who contributed to the memorable World Championship, eagerly anticipating the upcoming Premier League event in February.

PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter remarked on the record-breaking nature of this year’s World Championship, highlighting the historic final’s massive audience as a fitting culmination to a thrilling and dramatic tournament.

As darts continues to capture attention, Sky Documentaries has announced the commission of an access-all-areas premium documentary series titled “Darts (w/t).” This series will delve into the stories of players beyond the oche and is scheduled for release on Sky and NOW later this year.

With over 60 days of exclusively live coverage from major tournaments, including the World Darts Championship, Premier League, World Matchplay, Grand Slam of Darts, World Grand Prix, and World Cup of Darts, Sky Sports remains the home of darts.