16YO Luke Littler’s Darts Triumphs Over the Ryder Cup, Throwing a Massive Reality Check for Golf’s Future

A little-known 16-year-old Brit attracted more eyeballs than Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, or any of the twelve members of the victorious European Ryder Cup team. Luke Littler’s semifinal victory over Robb Cross in the World Darts Championship set a new viewership record, triumphing over that of the biennial golf gala. 

While the merger delay between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and PIF has thrown the golf world into more disarray, the viewership trouble points towards an underestimated problem that has battered the game for long. Golf is the seventh most popular sport, as per the Sporting Blog. Although Sky Sports recorded a better viewership than NBC at the Ryder Cup, the WDC viewership shows it is still a far cry from the best. 

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Eddie Hearn, a British sports promoter and chairman of Matchroom Sport, tweeted that the semifinal match between Luke Littler and Rob Cross hit a new benchmark for the game. The thrilling duel crossed the 2 million mark— a first for Darts. It also triumphs over the single-day TV audience of the Ryder Cup.

In fact, the 2.32 million viewership is almost triple of average Ryder Cup viewership, which stood at 785,000 on Sky Sports UK. However, the darts semi-final math couldn’t top the 3.7 million gross three-day viewership of the biennial event. Nonetheless, it cuts a far better figure than the 1.32 million viewership NBC recorded during the Sunday finals.

Luke Littler, a relatively unknown British kid, has turned all heads after becoming the youngest player to reach the World Darts Championship final. Eventually, the teenager fell to the might of world No.1, Luke Humphries, who surpassed Littler for a 7-4 victory in the final. Nonetheless, the teenage sensation broke multiple records, including the Ryder Cup viewership, which has been falling drastically in the last few years in the US.

The Ryder Cup recorded a high in the UK but a low in the USA

The disparity between Ryder Cup viewership in the USA and Europe is telling. Whereas Sky Sports reached a new high with a 3.7 million viewership, the US Ryder Cup viewership fell from last year. The number of young viewers below the age of 35 also increased by 14 percent on the other side of the pond. The average viewership was a 38 percent bump over last year’s outing.

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Whereas, NBC averaged a viewership of 1.41 million on Saturday, from 2.12 million in 2018, and 1.32 million on Sunday, from 2.47 million five years ago. The overnight and early morning coverage and the USA’s poor form were pointed out as reasons behind this. Moreover, NBC faced a backlash from fans for giving more importance to commercials than actual golf.

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