Barry Hearn’s hopes and dreams for the future of darts are coming to fruition.
It has taken the president of Matchroom Sports 20 years to see his vision for the sport finally materialise and the way in which darts has blown up in recent years has left Hearn stunned.
With sold-out crowds across the country, players becoming as recognisable as other top sporting stars and viewing figures at an all-time high, it’s safe to say darts is in good hands.
But Hearn is not the type of person to rest on his laurels, considering he now sits on a gold mine.
And that also goes for the current crop of stars who are quickly reaping the financial rewards of the sports new-found popularity.
Hearn has exclusively teased that there is some good news around the corner for Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and co.
“We’re on fire, there’s no other way to describe it,” Hearn told talkSPORT. “We’ve announced a new five-year deal with Sky which I’m very pleased with and we’re going away now for four or five weeks with a pile of money in the bank and thinking about what to do with it.
“In March we’ll be making an announcement that will put a lot of smiles on a lot of darts players’ faces.”
Ever the tease, Hearn did hint the announcement might have something to do with prize money.
The historic new deal with Sky is worth £125million and players look set to reap the rewards.
During his meteoric rise over the last 14 months, Littler has already made more than £1m in prize money – and that will only rise in the coming years.
Hearn added: “We’re investing a lot all over the world, Southeast Asia, in China, in the Chinese Premier League.
“What people don’t see is the hundreds and hundreds of tournaments that we’re supporting one way or another to make sure this game becomes truly global.
“And as it sifts through, it goes to the TV companies and they say, well, we’ve got to have that.
“So you’re boosting your income all the time. And as I say, we’re going to make a massive increase in prize money coming up, which we’ll announce soon.
“And I think that’s just the first stage of us overtaking a lot of other sports.”
Hearn also lauded the opening night of Premier League Darts which kicked off in Belfast on Thursday night.
The stand out match of the night pitted Littler against Van Gerwen in a repeat of last month’s World Darts Championship final.
AFPHearn is delighted at the growth and popularity of darts[/caption]
The Dutchman got his revenge on the 18-year-old with a 6-5 win at the SSE Arena on a night that saw Luke Humphries reign supreme by winning night one.
This year’s tournament is arguably the most anticipated since its inception in 2005 and is expected to draw strong ratings.
Much of that has been down to the emergence of Littler who has attracted a new generation of viewers – something Hearn is thankful for.
“This is the most fun thing I’ve done in my life, I’ve done a lot of fun things but watching this game explode and not just gain popularity but a change of perception,” he added.
“I have to give Luke Littler a lot of the credit for that because he’s brought a new audience in as well, the mums and the youngsters, the kids.
“It’s nice when a plan comes together,” he continued. “We’ve always had a dream of what we can do. It’s taken 20 years to get there and now we’re going to push on globally and the top players are going to be multi-millionaires.
“But they’re ordinary (people), the fans can relate to them. I think this is a worry for football that some of the players are unrelatable and that’s not good for the long run.
“But Darts is on fire and Belfast last night was rocking.”
Premier League Darts returns next Thursday for week two live from Glasgow.
Littler will be hoping to put his opening week disappointment behind him when he faces Rob Cross while Van Gerwen clashes with Stephen Bunting.
Nathan Aspinall takes on Gerwyn Price and week one winner Humphries plays Chris Dobey in the quarter finals.