It’s been reported that the PDC have reached an agreement with Sky Sports to extend their televised rights deal for the next five years.
The deal is expected to be worth double that of the previous agreement at £125m* and will mean that Sky Sports have secured the deal ahead of rumoured interest from Netflix and DAZN.
*Source – The Telegraph
The previous deal with Sky Sports expires this year and the renewal talks came at an opportune time for the PDC, following record viewing figures for the 2024 World Darts Championship and the emergence of Luke Littler last year.
As a result, darts boomed in 2024 and became the second most viewed sport on Sky Sports behind Premier League football.
Barry Hearn, alongside Sky Sports, have been responsible for the growth of darts since the PDC was formed in 1994.
The broadcasting partnership has seen darts continued growth for over three decades but the recent peak in popularity led Hearn to publicly say Sky Sports need to ‘up the ante’ in order to secure a new deal late last year.
See more – Barry Hearn tells Sky Sports to ‘up the ante’ if they want a new broadcasting deal
This was clearly a negotiating tactic from a shrewd businessman, but there was also substance to it…
Sky Sports had a long standing relationship with Matchroom Sports (parent company of the PDC) for pay-per-view boxing, but Hearn’s son Eddie shocked the boxing world a few years ago when he agreed a deal with DAZN over Sky.
DAZN is a streaming platform and this was a groundbreaking move for sports, moving from traditional television to a streaming service. It laid the foundation for the likes of Amazon Prime to then pursue football.
As a result of these established relationships, it was rumoured that DAZN, Amazon Prime and even Netflix considered bidding for the rights to darts once the Sky Sports deal expired.
This has not been publicly confirmed but following the speculation, Sky Sports seem to have now secured the deal to continue the long standing partnership between the PDC and Sky Sports.
Sky Sports will once again show over 60 days of darts moving forward with the Premier League Darts, Grand Slam of Darts, World Matchplay and World Darts Championship which will have an extended participant field in 2026.
SEE MORE FROM PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS
👉 Biggest losers from Premier League Darts line-up announcement
👉 Mike De Decker says PDC are ‘scandalous’ following Premier League snub
In late 2024, the PDC also agreed to a 1-year extension with ITV for darts coverage which includes the World Series of Darts, World Masters, UK Open, European Championship FInals and Players Championship Finals.
Following the new Sky Sports deal, it’s expected that ITV will extend this deal once again later this year.
Darts will be back on TV this weekend for the first World Series of Darts event at the Bahrain Darts Masters and in the lead up to it, fans have shown disappointment in the players selected to compete… 😬
If not already, make sure to follow Decent Darts on X or Facebook where we bring you daily darts content including news, quotes and quizzes that you won’t find on the site.