Luke Littler has earned a huge amount of money in his short darts career so far, but is not intending to go wild with his cash after landing the biggest prize in the sport.
The 17-year-old beat Michael van Gerwen 7-3 to win the World Darts Championship on Friday night at Alexandra Palace, becoming the youngest world champion in the sport’s history.
It was a monumental performance and achievement from the teenager, who followed up his blistering debut at Ally Pally when he finished runner-up to Luke Humphries, going one better this time round.
With the Sid Waddell Trophy comes a top prize of £500,000 which took his prize money on the oche past the £1.5m despite still being shy of his 18th birthday.
The normal, relatable nature of the darts prodigy is part of why he has earned himself a legion of fans and he is not going to go too Hollywood with his first purchase with his latest winnings.
Speaking after his world title win, he said of where the money will go: ‘Last year I was looking at driving and I loved the Ford Focus, but now I’ve gone up in the world just a little.
‘I’ve always loved a Mercedes A-Class. Just a small car.’
The Nuke is going to pocket plenty more cash in the months and years to come, not only on the board, but with sponsorships and endorsements having become a household name in the UK and further afield.
Sports finance expert Dr. Rob Wilson told LuckyBlock that Littler could ‘easily hit £100m’ in career earnings by the time he hangs up his arrows.
‘With prize money and sponsorship, he’ll have amassed around £1m in the calendar year,’ said Wilson. ‘Littler’s earnings should be extrapolated like compound interest. As each year passes his prize money will increase year on year, as will his endorsement activity as his profile grows.
‘He should comfortably earn £20million in prize money over the next 10 years.
‘Add to that sponsorship, the inevitable ‘At Home with the Littlers’ documentary that will follow and other revenue streams and his career earnings could easily hit £100m.’
With Littler already becoming world champion before he can legally buy a pint of lager, there is talk that he could topple Phil Taylor’s incredible record of 16 world titles.
The Power didn’t win his first world title until he was 29 years old and Littler reckons 16 is an achievable number.
‘If I want the 16, then I am sure I could possibly achieve it,’ Littler said. ‘If deep down, if I really want it, then with my ability, I’m sure I can achieve a lot more. But I know I’m in this for a long, long time.
‘I just want to try and win as many titles as I can this year. I won 10 last year. I’ve started the year off with one. But just try and add on to that 10. Maybe win 10, 11 or 12 or even more titles.
‘I said previously I would like to win one of every major and then add on to them. But I could be chasing Michael [van Gerwen]’s three titles – and potentially Phil’s 16.
‘I want to become one of the best of all time. It will take however many times. Phil Taylor won many. I know Michael has won 100-plus titles. But for myself, I want to win as much as I can.’
First, though, he is planning some well-deserved time off, not expecting to pick up his darts until the Bahrain Darts Masters on 16 January.
‘I’ll be honest, the World Series of Darts starts in Bahrain in a week or two weeks’ time and I won’t be practising until I go to Bahrain,’ he told the BBC.
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