Luke Littler’s unlikely route to being a millionaire: Car insurance and DIY shops
Luke Littler will become a teenage millionaire but is “no magnet to sponsors” such as Emma Raducanu and Jude Bellingham, branding consultants say.
Marcel Knobil, founder of the Brand Council and Superbrands, issued a reality check, saying darts and the profile of its players remain a tricky sell to the biggest-paying partners.
“He will easily become a millionaire in prize money and endorsements very soon but he won’t be eating his kebab on a private jet or yacht for the next few years at least,” Knobil says.
Instead of targeting high-end fashion houses like Raducanu did after her US Open tennis success, Knobil suggests Littler should expect deals a “rung down the ladder” with DIY firms and, as he turns 17, car insurance companies.
The “Nuke” had pre-championship deals with darts manufacturer Target, Skoda in Warrington and Prestige Building Supplies. He now pockets £200,000 in prize money as a losing finalist at Alexandra Palace. Littler will have had a host of fresh sponsorship inquiries but he will be doing “very well indeed” if he receives individual offers in the hundreds of thousands of pounds, the marketing specialist says.
Littler’s agonising failure to lift the World Championship on Wednesday “does undermine potential earnings”, Knobil says, adding that “the harsh reality is that he’s in the wrong body and the wrong sport to be bringing in millions in sponsorship, especially quickly.
“When you look at a parallel individual in another sport, the outlook is so different,” Knobil adds. “Raducanu is an obvious example of this. Firstly, if you look at the sport she’s in, it’s got so much more glamour, lifestyle, elegance attached to it and it is much more of a magnet to serious sponsorship.
“And I know I get attacked for saying these things, but it’s a commercial reality that sponsors are attracted to those who are attractive. You can far more imagine Raducanu being a clothes horse than Luke. Jude Bellingham would also be dismissing the offers that Luke will get.”
Knobil acknowledges, however, that the commercial appeal of darts has undoubtedly soared due to Littler’s “feel good” exploits at Alexandra Palace. The Professional Darts Corporation will be looking for a significant increase on its potential Sky Sports rights renewal in 2025, having secured audiences to rival the biggest Premier League football matches.
“Luke could be the star that helps make darts more commercially attractive and we have seen with Paddy Power’s deal with the championship that the PDC means business,” Knobil says. “But I do think there is a lid on the uber-excitement.
“The avenues, if I was managing Luke, would be to look at the age-related values, his value as a winner and then the accuracy. Apart from obviously the big darts brands, I could actually see him being used for information campaigns or even building tools like Black and Decker.
“You can see him potentially outdoing the likes of Michael van Gerwen, who is worth over £8 million now... I’m confident we’ll see Luke driving a very nice car and having some relationship with not necessarily a car manufacturer but building on his Skoda car dealership deal.”
Other sporting brand experts have previously said it was a “foregone conclusion” that the Warrington wonder would have new offers on the table and would be a millionaire well within his teens. Tom Scott, chief executive of strategic communications agency Trippant, said: “Top-rank players can make over £1.5 million a year, which can surpass the £5 million mark with the right sponsorship deals.”
Barry Hearn, whose company Matchroom owns the Professional Darts Corporation, told The Telegraph this week that Littler could “without blinking” immediately secure £1 million of exhibition work at the going rate of around £10,000 a night. However, he urged the teenager, who had secured £100,000 in winnings prior to the semi-final, to be patient in his pursuit of riches.
