Luke Littler has been warned not to cash in on his sudden fame after Barry Hearn said the 16-year-old darts sensation was the game’s answer to Tiger Woods.
Littler beat legend Raymond van Barneveld to advance to the World Championship quarter-finals on Saturday. While Littler could instantly become a millionaire global star through exhibitions and sponsorships, Hearn emphasized the need for balance.
Reaching the last eight against Brendan Dolan on New Year’s Day guaranteed Littler £50,000 just six months after completing his GCSE exams, but he is now also joint second favorite for Wednesday’s £500,000 first prize.
Hearn, whose company Matchroom owns Professional Darts Corporation, believes Littler’s phenomenal success and the influx of new audiences will change darts forever, but stressed the “delicate phase” of his development.
“I’ve got Steve Davis on board,” said Hearn, who thinks Littler could instantly secure £1 million of exhibition work at a rate of around £10,000 a night “without batting an eyelid”.
“You strike the balance at the point where they are still living a semi-normal life,” Hearn said. “You allowed them to mature as a person without being focused solely on money. It feels weird coming from me [but] It’s something you’ll do much better with in the long run.
“It’s clear that he’s done a lot for her; his parents and the group around him are very supportive. They should no longer just look at money because if you are good enough it will come automatically.
“There are a lot of great players who come because they smell the money. Top darts players probably earn between £2 and £2.5 million a year.
“For him, it’s a matter of drip-feeding his fame. If I were managing it, I would raise its fee to an astronomical figure, which would make it less likely to run out, according to the laws of supply and demand. The biggest job for him will actually be checking his diary.
“You compare this [Emma] Raducanu. I won’t be cruel and call this a flash in the pan, but this [Raducanu] It is a one-time event that has not been followed up. He’s still a good player; Something is missing there, there are injuries or something. Do you think this kid could be the face of darts for the next 25 years?
“I think he’s one of those players in 10 years’ time that we’ll look back on and say, ‘This is the moment when the game changed again and went to another level.’ People look at Luke Littler and say, ‘Damn Norah, why not me?’ “They say. It will inspire a generation.”
Hearn, who has managed the likes of Davis, Chris Eubank, Anthony Joshua and Ronnie O’Sullivan, acknowledged the duty of care shared by the PDC in taking on Littler’s workload when the World Championships conclude on Wednesday. This follows a plea from 2015 and 2016 world champion Gary Anderson for the “kid to be allowed to play darts” due to his concerns about excessive media attention.
“You feel like you shouldn’t put too much pressure on the kid and then you watch him play and he doesn’t look under any pressure. He walks in there talking about kebabs,” Hearn said.
“He’s not thinking, ‘500 grand, change my life.’ He thinks: ‘Wow, this is really amazing.’ It’s just fun; This makes him the most dangerous darts player on the planet.
“I feel like I want to ask for your passport, check it once more. He’s not 16, but he plays like he’s 16. My wife is a great example. He’s not a fan of darts at all and was glued to the screen on Saturday. He’s translating The Voice, a show he watches every week, and wants to watch Luke Littler. Suddenly, a story about a darts player started appearing not only in sports news but also in mainstream news.
“It was made for the World Series, where we took darts to far-flung countries. You can imagine him throwing darts in New York and Madison Square Garden; “The Yankees will definitely be needed because everyone loves those kinds of stories.”
Hearn said it was also seen in “tremendous” ratings on Sky Sports, and he only has 18 months left on his contract to continue broadcasting the PDC World Championship, which began with its launch 30 years ago.
“Ratings around the world are off the scale,” Hearn said. “Number two on Sky [Sports] Behind Premier League football. I think Sky will be very successful. Other publishers will look at this and say: ‘Why didn’t we get this?’
“Companies we have never done business with before call me; The other day we made an agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina. The organizers are getting carried away, but I’m getting carried away because this is such an important moment for the sport. “This is a Boris Becker moment, this is a Tiger Woods moment.”