The Government has been told it would be "scandalous" not to put Luke Littler’s appearance in the World Darts Championship final on BBC or ITV.
16 year-old Luke, from Warrington, is the youngest-ever player to reach the final, defeating former champion Rob Cross 6-2 last night. His performance has earned him praise from across the country, including in St Helens where he trained at the St Helens Darts Academy.
The TV rights for the tournament are held by Sky Sports, who will be showing the match tonight. Other big games, such as the Olympics and FA Cup Final, are considered “crown jewel” sporting events and are required by law to be shown on terrestrial TV channels, such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or Channel 5.
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Ahead of Luke’s performance in the final tonight against Luke Humphries, the Liberal Democrats have urged the Government to make the final free to watch. Jamie Stone, the party’s culture and sports spokesman, said: “The country is gripped by darts fever and the spectacle of a 16-year-old Brit becoming world champion.
“It would be scandalous for this historic game to be hidden away from millions of people. The final must be on free to air TV. If football, cricket and rugby world cup finals are free to air, then so should darts.
“Sky Sports should do the right thing and share coverage with the likes of the BBC or ITV. Ministers have the power to put pressure on them.”
According to The London Evening Standard, it is understood that broadcasters could come to such an arrangement themselves without the need for ministerial intervention. This was seen in the Cricket World Cup Final in 2019, which was allowed to be shown on Sky Sports and Channel 4.
Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, congratulated Littler following his semi-final victory.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, she said: “Great win from Luke Littler at the semi finals this evening.
“Getting to a world championship final on his debut at 16 and amazing how he is getting everyone talking about darts.”
The final will be shown from 7.30pm tonight on Sky Sports Darts and Sky Sports Main Event.