On January 3, Luke Littler won the World Darts Championships for the second year in a row, dominating Gian van Veen in the final. At 18, he embodies the new vision of this sport, seen less as a bar hobby but as an exciting sporting discipline which increasingly affects young people.
The semi-finals, broadcast unencrypted on the L’Équipe channel, brought an average of 509,000 people to their screens to admire the spectacle. A strong enthusiasm which was felt in the increase in people wanting to get into the world of darts. Swann Borsellino, who comments for L’Équipe, states that “the craze on social networks is difficult to quantify, but on my scale, I have 45,000 subscribers on Twitter and I have received more than a hundred messages from people asking me what to buy. »
Vincent Ferraguti, licensed at the Sputnik Darts Club – the largest club in Paris – just like Swann Borsellino, also feels this new craze. “In my close circle, people talk to me more and more about darts. People ask me for gift ideas, advice on what to buy, what installation to do at home. »
A notable increase in sales
“There has been momentum since the World Championships, but it is not new,” confides Olivier, owner of Olie’s Darts, an online site selling darts equipment dedicated to individuals and professionals. I would say that it has been gradually increasing for 3-4 years. December is always a better month than the others, especially with the holidays. But it’s certain that the World Championships have something to do with it. There are more people this January than last year, but it’s like that every year. »
As for the giant Decathlon, we also confirm a real increase in target sales. “The start of the year confirms a real change in dimension for darts. We see this dynamic across almost all of Europe. Consumers are clearly moving towards traditional practice, even if “leisure” darts remain very popular. This trend translates into double-digit growth compared to 2024, in France as in 90% of our European countries.”
“More and more interested”
Stéphane Skoric, owner of Sputnik – a Parisian bar renowned for its darts – and president of the Sputnik Darts Club, saw that the 2025 World Championships aroused more passion than in other years. “We have always had a lot of people for darts but there are definitely more and more people interested. We have a tournament on Wednesday, and there are more and more people. The Saturday night of the final (of the World Championships), there were 50% of the people in the bar who were there for that. »
Similar observation at L’AlbaR, another Parisian darts bar. “During the World Championships, there were quite a few people, and the people who came wanted to watch the matches at the same time. »
