The Greatest Show on Earth - 2025 PDC World Darts Championship (15th December - 3rd January Alexandra Palace, London)

[PT13]

Age of all BDO/WDF World Champions since 1978

1978 - Rees 38
1979 - Lowe 33
1980 - Bristow 22
1981 - Bristow 23
1982 - Wilson 31
1983 - Deller 24
1984 - Bristow 26
1985 - Bristow 27
1986 - Bristow 28
1987 - Lowe 41
1988 - B.Anderson 40
1989 - Wilson 38
1990 - Taylor 29
1991 - Priestley 40
1992 - Taylor 31
1993 - Lowe 47
1994 - Part 27
1995 - Burnett 27
1996 - Beaton 32
1997 - Wallace 34
1998 - Barneveld 30
1999 - Barneveld 31
2000 - Hankey 31
2001 - Walton 39
2002 - David 34
2003 - Barneveld 35
2004 - Fordham 41
2005 - Barneveld 37
2006 - Klaasen 21
2007 - Adams 50
2008 - Webster 24
2009 - Hankey 40
2010 - Adams 53
2011 - Adams 54
2012 - Kist 25
2013 - Waites 35
2014 - Bunting 28
2015 - Mitchell 44
2016 - Waites 38
2017 - Durrant 46
2018 - Durrant 47
2019 - Durrant 48
2020 - Warren 57
2022 - Duff 49
2023 - Baetens 34
2024 - McGuirk 29

Keith Deller was 23, and looked about 17. The opposite of the Luke Littler situation.

Before Littler, Klaasen had the record as the youngest of PDC/BDO world champions.

[The Thorn]

So is Littler going to be on any big breakfast shows and whatnot?

[1205]

The average Sky audience per session at the Worlds is up 39% on last year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/darts ... erwen.html



Following his heroics from last year, viewing figures have again defied expectations, with Sky Sports - broadcasters of the competition - publishing an update ahead of the showpiece finale in north London.

According to their figures, viewership for the current edition of the competition is up 39 per cent year-on-year at an average of 471,000 after the semi-finals.

That figure is in fact some 80,000 higher than the average for the entire tournament last year, with the semi-finals averaging 1.5million viewers alone on Thursday night.

I wonder how the Littler effect manifested itself over the course of the last Worlds, the cliche that he was completely unknown in December 2023 wasn't quite true, but I doubt many of the casual observers would have known much about him early doors

Definitely not unknown to darts fans. A bunch of pundits had him reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024, with the odd one saying semi-final.
The general media was quiet, but got noisy very quickly. The BBC:
14/12/2023 : Preview didn't even mention Littler, but mentioned Sherrock and her MBE: https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67698657
20/12/2023: PDC World Championship 2024: Peter Wright beaten but Luke Littler, 16, wins on debut https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67723713
Now they're getting a bit excited and he quickly become the headliner:
22/12/2023: PDC World Championship 2024: Teenager Luke Littler continues his dream debut with win over Andrew Gilding https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67797923
... and he gets his own articles:
22/12/2023: PDC World Championship 2024: Luke Littler says he has played 'non-stop' since 18 months old https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67799802
22/12/2023: Luke Littler: 16-year-old World Championship darts sensation on celebratory meal https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/darts/67804459
... and from that point it was about him

[thegentle]

The average Sky audience per session at the Worlds is up 39% on last year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/darts ... erwen.html



Following his heroics from last year, viewing figures have again defied expectations, with Sky Sports - broadcasters of the competition - publishing an update ahead of the showpiece finale in north London.

According to their figures, viewership for the current edition of the competition is up 39 per cent year-on-year at an average of 471,000 after the semi-finals.

That figure is in fact some 80,000 higher than the average for the entire tournament last year, with the semi-finals averaging 1.5million viewers alone on Thursday night.

I wonder how the Littler effect manifested itself over the course of the last Worlds, the cliche that he was completely unknown in December 2023 wasn't quite true, but I doubt many of the casual observers would have known much about him early doors

Definitely not unknown to darts fans. A bunch of pundits had him reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024, with the odd one saying semi-final.
The general media was quiet, but got noisy very quickly. The BBC:
14/12/2023 : Preview didn't even mention Littler, but mentioned Sherrock and her MBE: https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67698657
20/12/2023: PDC World Championship 2024: Peter Wright beaten but Luke Littler, 16, wins on debut https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67723713
Now they're getting a bit excited and he quickly become the headliner:
22/12/2023: PDC World Championship 2024: Teenager Luke Littler continues his dream debut with win over Andrew Gilding https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67797923
... and he gets his own articles:
22/12/2023: PDC World Championship 2024: Luke Littler says he has played 'non-stop' since 18 months old https://www.bbc.com/sport/darts/67799802
22/12/2023: Luke Littler: 16-year-old World Championship darts sensation on celebratory meal https://www.bbc.com/sport/av/darts/67804459
... and from that point it was about him

He was in a fairly kind section last year with Gilding (granted, the UK Open champion, but that was 9 months previous and he didn't exactly back it up), Wade (who lost to Matt Campbell anyway), Wright (the European champion, but who was on terrible form both before and after that run and lost in the meekest of fashions to Jimbo) and Barney, so him getting to the quarters was never a huuuuuuuuge shout, then Dolan dispatched both Price and Gando (neither of whom were on stellar form, but would have represented stiffer opposition) and boom, he was very quickly into the semis. I remember him and Gian having a titanic tungsten tussle on the Dev Tour, but then he got his revenge at Minehead and I think it was then that I realised he was for the here and now

[PT13]

The precise ages of world champions on the days they won the tournaments:

Pre-split
1978: Leighton Rees (38 years, 24 days)
1979: John Lowe (33 years, 203 days)
1980: Eric Bristow (22 years, 290 days)
1981: Eric Bristow (23 years, 267 days)
1982: Jocky Wilson (31 years, 300 days)
1983: Keith Deller (23 years, 15 days)
1984: Eric Bristow (26 years, 257 days)
1985: Eric Bristow (27 years, 262 days)
1986: Eric Bristow (28 years, 261 days)
1987: John Lowe (41 years, 180 days)
1988: Bob Anderson (40 years, 71 days)
1989: Jocky Wilson (38 years, 298 days)
1990: Phil Taylor (29 years, 153 days)
1991: Dennis Priestley (40 years, 180 days)
1992: Phil Taylor (31 years, 151 days)
1993: John Lowe (47 years, 172 days)

Post-split
1994 (WDC): Dennis Priestley (43 years, 170 days)
1994 (BDO): John Part (27 years, 193 days)

1995 (WDC): Phil Taylor (34 years, 142 days)
1995 (BDO): Richie Burnett (27 years, 335 days)

1996 (WDC): Phil Taylor (35 years, 141 days)
1996 (BDO): Steve Beaton (31 years, 277 days)

1997 (WDC): Phil Taylor (36 years, 145 days)
1997 (BDO): Les Wallace (34 years, 325 days)

1998 (PDC): Phil Taylor (37 years, 144 days)
1998 (BDO): Raymond van Barneveld (30 years, 266 days)

1999 (PDC): Phil Taylor (38 years, 143 days)
1999 (BDO): Raymond van Barneveld (31 years, 265 days)

2000 (PDC): Phil Taylor (39 years, 144 days)
2000 (BDO): Ted Hankey (31 years, 330 days)

2001 (PDC): Phil Taylor (40 years, 143 days)
2001 (BDO): John Walton (39 years, 65 days)

2002 (PDC): Phil Taylor (41 years, 145 days)
2002 (BDO): Tony David (34 years, 124 days)

2003 (PDC): John Part (36 years, 190 days)
2003 (BDO): Raymond van Barneveld (35 years, 267 days)

2004 (PDC): Phil Taylor (43 years, 144 days)
2004 (BDO): Andy Fordham (41 years, 343 days)

2005 (PDC): Phil Taylor (44 years, 143 days)
2005 (BDO): Raymond van Barneveld (37 years, 264 days)

2006 (PDC): Phil Taylor (45 years, 142 days)
2006 (BDO): Jelle Klaasen (21 years, 90 days)

2007 (PDC): Raymond van Barneveld (39 years, 256 days)
2007 (BDO): Martin Adams (50 years, 224 days)

2008 (PDC): John Part (41 years, 186 days)
2008 (BDO): Mark Webster (24 years, 154 days)

2009 (PDC): Phil Taylor (48 years, 144 days)
2009 (BDO): Ted Hankey (40 years, 326 days)

2010 (PDC): Phil Taylor (49 years, 143 days)
2010 (BDO): Martin Adams (53 years, 220 days)

2011 (PDC): Adrian Lewis (25 years, 347 days)
2011 (BDO): Martin Adams (54 years, 219 days)

2012 (PDC): Adrian Lewis (26 years, 346 days)
2012 (BDO): Christian Kist (25 years, 269 days)

2013 (PDC): Phil Taylor (52 years, 141 days)
2013 (BDO): Scott Waites (35 years, 331 days)

2014 (PDC): Michael van Gerwen (24 years, 251 days)
2014 (BDO): Stephen Bunting (28 years, 278 days)

2015 (PDC): Gary Anderson (44 years, 13 days)
2015 (BDO): Scott Mitchell (44 years, 220 days)

2016 (PDC): Gary Anderson (45 years, 12 days)
2016 (BDO): Scott Waites (38 years, 327 days)

2017 (PDC): Michael van Gerwen (27 years, 252 days)
2017 (BDO): Glen Durrant (46 years, 52 days)

2018 (PDC): Rob Cross (27 years, 102 days)
2018 (BDO): Glen Durrant (47 years, 51 days)

2019 (PDC): Michael van Gerwen (29 years, 251 days)
2019 (BDO): Glen Durrant (48 years, 50 days)

2020 (PDC): Peter Wright (49 years, 297 days)
2020 (BDO): Wayne Warren (57 years, 214 days)

Post-BDO
2021 (PDC): Gerwyn Price (35 years, 302 days)

2022 (PDC): Peter Wright (51 years, 299 days)

2022 (WDF): Neil Duff (49 years, 262 days)

2023 (PDC): Michael Smith (32 years, 107 days)

2023 (WDF): Andy Baetens (34 years, 289 days)

2024 (PDC): Luke Humphries (28 years, 326 days)

2024 (WDF): Shane McGuirk (29 years, 213 days)

2025 (PDC): Luke Littler (17 years, 348 days)

[The Thorn]

Senna post gif

[sennafan24]

Senna post gif

[The Thorn]

Good evening mate and good job

[The Thorn]

And apologies to PT13 you are a decent lad. I enjoy a lot of your contributions it's just a bit of banter

[sennafan24]

And apologies to PT13 you are a decent lad. I enjoy a lot of your contributions it's just a bit of banter

+1

[PT13]

And apologies to PT13 you are a decent lad. I enjoy a lot of your contributions it's just a bit of banter

+1

+2

[Rogg]

The average Sky audience per session at the Worlds is up 39% on last year.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/darts ... erwen.html



Following his heroics from last year, viewing figures have again defied expectations, with Sky Sports - broadcasters of the competition - publishing an update ahead of the showpiece finale in north London.

According to their figures, viewership for the current edition of the competition is up 39 per cent year-on-year at an average of 471,000 after the semi-finals.

That figure is in fact some 80,000 higher than the average for the entire tournament last year, with the semi-finals averaging 1.5million viewers alone on Thursday night.

Sky Sports have confirmed that they averaged 2.7million viewers for the World Darts Championship final with a peak audience of 3.1m.

Whilst short of last year's record (3.1m average and 3.71m peak), it's higher than any other non-football audience on the station in the last 12 months.

The semi-finals averaged 1.5m with the overall tournament average at 471k, a 39 per cent increase on last year's figure of 391k.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/othersp ... van-Gerwen

[tungsten tossers]

Incredible but true: George Noble called exactly 180 maximums during 2025 PDC World Darts Championship

https://dartsnews.com/pdc/incredible-bu ... ampionship

[skweezit]

even though a kid that doesn't drive, can't drink or buy pot legally yet, at least where I live,
and probably doesn't even own a gun is now darts champion of the world,
I really don't feel that much different.

[Randall]

He certainly won't own a gun

[ChrisW]

I owned a gun at 17.

[tungsten tossers]

I owned a gun at 17.

[ChrisW]

Close

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gat_air_pistol

[tungsten tossers]

Statistics show PDC World Darts Championship 2025 was weaker than previous editions

https://dartsnews.com/pdc/statistics-sh ... s-editions

[Rogg]

FEBs has made it to the big time. The dartsnews vultures have swooped.