The sensational rise and rise of Warrington darts sensation Luke Littler has been recognised in the money earning figures released by the Professional Darts Corporation.
Prize money over the last two years, reveal the £558, 500 raked in, puts Littler in 5th place in the Order Of Merit, but that is after just a year of competing. That’s more than experienced winners Johnny Clayton, Dave Chisnall, and many more.
Luke Humphries topped the list with a whopping £1.7 million.
His extraordinary success, nine titles within 12 months at the age of 17 is unprecedented and is already drawing comparisons to the greats of the game such as Michael Van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, and the late great Eric Bristow.
Taking the Darts world by storm, Littler has proved to be an equal match for any Professional player, dominating several tournaments including the Bahrain Darts Masters and the Premier League.
Littler racked up an impressive 23 wins across 16 nights as well as beating Michael Smith 10-5 in the playoff semi-final and Humphries 11-7, recording a nine-dart finish in the process.
The Warrington teenager recorded the second-highest average in the Premier League with 99.42 over 35 games. Only Humphries had a higher average with 100.87 over 32 games.
It wasn’t just the Premier League where he shone.
Littler won both the Austrian and Belgian Darts Open, The Bahrain and Poland Darts Masters, the World Series of Darts, three times in the Players Championships, and most recently, and most recently the Grand Slam of Darts securing his first major TV ranking title.
Alongside Humphries, the 17-year-old has dominated this year, racking up six tournament wins. (excluding player Championship)
Littler has also achieved four nine-dart finishes this season, two of which were on TV. A nine-darter is the quickest mathematical method to win a leg and is considered the most difficult way to win a leg in darts.
Phil Taylor holds the record for the most Televised nine-darters with 11, in a career stretching over 30 years. Littler achieving two in his first season is a serious statement.
With the highest match average of 117.88 and a 12-month average of 99.11, the second-best in the world behind Gary Anderson. Littler’s stats have been outstanding, he has the most 180 scores and the highest first-nine dart average with 109.45.
40% of the legs he plays get a maximum score of from three darts, and he has the best record at hitting trebles, 45.87% of the time. Littler ranks near the top in almost every stat possible.
Michael Van Gerwen has been the dominant force for the last 10-15 years, Littler appears to be the heir apparent. The pair had some fierce battles in 2024.
This year Littler and MVG have met 12 times, each winning six times. In the four finals, Van Gerwen has claimed victory three times. However, the Dutchman has only recorded one title this season, beating Littler 8-6 in the Dutch Masters.
Van Gerwen is financially the most successful Darts player of all time, coming into the sport at the right time, as prize money increased. He has earned a total of £11,568,800. Through his multiple title wins this year Littler has already earned himself over one million pounds in less than 12 months.
To put that into perspective his Dutch rival averaged £642,711 per year over his 18-year professional career. Gerwyn Price has enjoyed a very successful career in darts since retiring from professional rugby in 2014. The Welshman earned an average of £435,775 per year. Luke Humphries who has also been a force this year, being Littler’s biggest rival earnt on average £449,570.
The data shows the Merseyside man’s season has been nothing short of incredible earning £1,052,379 in 2024.
Luke Littler has had a sensational rise from being an unknown youth entering the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship to not only darts but a national celebrity. The future is clearly bright.
