‘They’ll knock your teeth out’ – Hearn warns struggling darts stars sport will change forever within next five years
BARRY HEARN has insisted that darts will change forever within the next five years.
Luke Littler has taken the sport by storm since his emergence at the World Championships in 2024 and winning it this year.
Hearn, 76, believes that Littler has had an impact on the sport similar to that of Tiger Woods in golf.
The founder and president of Matchroom Sport has likened the two to each other by the way they will encourage more people to take interest.
He told the Sunday Times: “I would probably liken it to the arrival of Tiger Woods winning his first Major.
“Tiger was playing golf at two. Littler has been playing darts since birth almost it seems like.
“The similarities are there. Littler is bringing in a whole audience of youngsters, commercially he’s a huge success, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg.”
Hearn has also insisted that Littler is just the start of something at the oche.
He believes that many young stars could following the world champion’s footsteps.
He suggests that in the next five years, there could be a “tsunami” of new talent that could replace the ageing stars.
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS
He added: “The guys coming through are going to knock your teeth out. Littler is not just a once-in-a-generation prodigy.
“He’s the guy holding the flag for the next generation of superstars and they are coming through in huge numbers.
Luke Littler prize money breakdown
Here is all the prize money Luke Littler has won so far after being crowned 2025 PDC World Darts Championship winner:
World Championship 2025 – £500,000
World Championship 2024 – £200,000
Grand Slam of Darts 2024 – £150,000
European Tour – £91,000
Player Championships events – £71,500
Players Championship final runner-up – £60,000
UK Open 2023 + 2024 – £17,500
World Matchplay – £10,000
World Grand Prix – £7,500
European Championship – £7,500
(Unranked) Premier League Darts – £315,000
TOTAL: £1.43 million
“We’ve already seen the start of it. On the junior tour, these kids are ten years old throwing nine-darters.
“Because of the interest, predominantly from Littler and his success story, kids are being inspired and their parents are encouraging them.
“Trust me when I say, in the next five years, we have a tsunami of talent that will change the game.”
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year.
The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions.
That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once – Barney also won four BDO titles – and none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO titles are included.
- 1994 – Dennis Priestley
- 1995 – Phil Taylor
- 1996 – Phil Taylor (2)
- 1997 – Phil Taylor (3)
- 1998 – Phil Taylor (4)
- 1999 – Phil Taylor (5)
- 2000 – Phil Taylor (6)
- 2001 – Phil Taylor (7)
- 2002 – Phil Taylor (8)
- 2003 – John Part
- 2004 – Phil Taylor (9)
- 2005 – Phil Taylor (10)
- 2006 – Phil Taylor (11)
- 2007 – Raymond van Barneveld
- 2008 – John Part (2)
- 2009 – Phil Taylor (12)
- 2010 – Phil Taylor (13)
- 2011 – Adrian Lewis
- 2012 – Adrian Lewis (2)
- 2013 – Phil Taylor (14)
- 2014 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2015 – Gary Anderson
- 2016 – Gary Anderson (2)
- 2017 – Michael van Gerwen (2)
- 2018 – Rob Cross
- 2019 – Michael van Gerwen (3)
- 2020 – Peter Wright
- 2021 – Gerwyn Price
- 2022 – Peter Wright (2)
- 2023 – Michael Smith
- 2024 – Luke Humphries
- 2025 – Luke Littler
Most World Titles
- 14 – Phil Taylor
- 3 – Michael van Gerwen
- 2 – John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright
- 1 – Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler