Are darts rights moving to Netflix soon? PDC boss wants to see more money from Sky Sports

TV rights in Britain for the PDC World Darts Championship have been with Sky Sports since 1994. After the upcoming World Championship, however, their contract expires and PDC president Barry Hearn is looking out for possible alternatives. The 77-year-old is also considering streaming platform Netflix.

Sky Sports pays about 12 million pounds a year for the current contract, which allows them to broadcast 60 days of live darts annually, including the PDC World Darts Championship. Hearn warned earlier this year that Sky would have to "raise the ante" to get a new deal, and Telegraph Sport found out that he values the contract at about 45 million pounds a year.

Sky Sports is willing to double their current rights fee to about 25 million pounds, but is reluctant to go much higher and lengthy negotiations have not yet resulted in a deal. Hearn therefore began to look out for alternatives and ended up with Amazon and Netflix. Initial talks with these streaming services have increased confidence that there is real competition for the rights and reinforced the belief that the PDC can strike a big deal.

Important to note here that Hearn already has a close relationship with Netflix, which has begun filming a documentary about his professional dual role with boxing promoter Eddie and their company Matchroom Sport, majority shareholders of the PDC.

Amazon and Netflix are reportedly particularly interested in the PDC World Darts Championship because of its place on the calendar, with both companies confident that a captive audience will be available during Christmas. The growing appeal of darts to a younger audience that make up many of their existing customers also makes it an attractive proposition.

Sky Sports has held the exclusive rights since the first PDC World Championship was launched in 1994. In terms of viewing figures, darts is now Sky Sports' biggest sport next to football leading the PDC to demand a much bigger deal.

Littler's extraordinary emergence last year produced record figures for Sky Sports: 4.8 million people watched the teenager's defeat in the final against Luke Humphries and TV viewership peaked at 3.7 million, remarkable figures that have alerted American streamers to the growing popularity of darts.

The ratings of Littler against Humphries represented a 150 percent increase over the previous final between Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen, giving Sky Sports the largest number of viewers ever for a non-football match. The viewership peak of 3.7 million was also greater than that of most of Sky's live Premier League matches, with the exception of the top matches between Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Sky Sports is the PDC's longtime partner and that may give them an advantage in negotiating the rights, but Hearn has made it clear he will seek the best deal for the players.  “We owe Sky a massive, massive debt,” Hearn said in September. “They stuck with us in the early days, and loyalty is a big part of our business.

"But also I have a responsibility to players to maximise their earnings. There’s going to be some interesting conversations.

“Compare us to anyone else. Show me what you pay rugby union, league, golf, and tell me why I don’t get the same or more. I really hope Sky raise the ante.”