Luke Littler inspiring ‘Littler MUMS’ into world of darts after rival influenced Hollywood superstar and tennis legend

LUKE LITTLER has helped darts reach a whole new audience and brought “Littler mums” into the sport. Pundit Dan Dawson believes Littler’s remarkable rise has attracted fans who had never previously shown an interest in the game. Luke Littler has attracted ‘the Littler mums’ to darts, according to Dan Dawson Credit: Shutterstock Editorial His performances have helped bring a whole new audience into the sport Credit: PA Littler, 19, has won 11 of the 19 ranked majors he has played since bursting onto the scene at the 2024 World Championship. The Nuke has since become the youngest world No1 in PDC history and the third most successful player in terms of televised titles, with 14 to his name. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! Littler is now chasing an unprecedented clean sweep after winning all SIX of the PDC’s Premier events this season. But Dawson reckons Littler’s biggest impact could be the people he has brought through the doors. He told Awful Announcing: “His story has reached through to bits of the world darts doesn’t often reach. “The Littler mums have got right into darts in recent times. They’re all watching and commenting on Facebook having never been into darts before. “Child nearly wins world championship on debut is a heck of a story. Child then wins world championship and everything else is an unbelievable story. “What he’s doing is pretty much unprecedented, to turn up as he has and kept on winning. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Fallon Sherrock had a similar impact on darts after her emergence in 2019 Credit: Getty Sherrock’s rise even got tennis icon Billie Jean King talking about darts Credit: Getty Hollywood star Sarah Jessica Parker also posted about the sport online after watching Sherrock Credit: Getty “That has been a huge thing for darts and it’s been a big reason why a lot more kids are getting into it, more females are watching, a wider spread of people are getting into the game and giving it a chance. “And once they gave it a chance they found out it’s pretty good. “We had a similar thing when Fallon Sherrock won games at the World Championship. “That got Billie Jean King posting about it on social media. The woman whose name I forget who’s in Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker, tweeted about the darts. “That is not a demographic that we traditionally cut through to. “That in itself was a massive thing. Woman winning games against the men at the world championship. “You’ve had woman winning games at the world championship, child nearly wins world championship, child does win world championship. “Unless talking dog wins world championship, we’re running out of things where we can build upon it. “But it has really capitalized on the growth that the sport has seen over the last 10-15 years.” Dawson also pointed to the PDC’s growing presence in the United States as further evidence of its expanding reach. He added: “The PDC, their viewership in the United States has doubled in the last two-and-a-half years. Some of their social posts have about tripled. “Their ticket sales at MSG, I know we had the World Cup on so there was a lot of people from Europe as well, but it was absolutely chalk and cheese compared to when we first went to MSG. “And that was better than we were doing for the US Darts Masters in Vegas a few years ago. “So there is growth. It is a phenomenally hard market to break into and get a piece of that enormous pie. “But it does appear to be gaining some sort of traction. Luke Littler is a huge part of that.” Comment now