Sky Sports to show world-class darts until 2025

As Sky Sports prepares to broadcast its 25th World Darts Championship, the Professional Darts Corporation has agreed a new seven-year broadcast deal that will take Sky’s coverage of the sport into a fourth decade.

Running until 2025, Sky customers will be able to watch the best of live darts throughout the year including the sport’s biggest tournament, the William Hill World Darts Championship, as well as the 16-week Unibet Premier League, and the prestigious BetVictor World Matchplay.

Sky Sports’ relationship with the PDC started in 1993/1994 when it broadcast the World Championship, which has evolved from its first home at the Circus Tavern in Essex with 24 players and a prize pot of £64,000 to the world-famous Alexandra Palace in London with triple the number of competitors and a prize fund of £1.8million.

The new contract will give Sky Sports customers 60 days of live darts throughout each year, featuring the William Hill World Championship, Unibet Premier League, BetVictor World Matchplay, bwin Grand Slam of Darts, Unibet World Grand Prix and Betway World Cup of Darts.

PDC Chairman Barry Hearn said: “We’re absolutely delighted that we have been able to extend our relationship with Sky Sports for a further seven years. The support of Sky Sports since the PDC was formed almost 25 years ago has been a vital part in the sport’s success since then, and it will be fantastic for them to continue their superb coverage of these six major tournaments until at least 2025. The 2017/2018 William Hill World Darts Championship promises to be the best yet as the sport’s amazing global growth continues, and this is fantastic news to kick off the most exciting period of the year.”

Barney Francis, Managing Director of Sky Sports added: “It would not be Christmas without the darts which has become an essential part of the festive period for Sky Sports. By continuing to show the biggest and best darts for a further seven years it’s the ideal Christmas gift for Sky Sports customers. Alongside recent long-term deals for England cricket, EFL and Formula 1® it’s yet another example of a hugely exciting future for our customers.”

For the first time, Sky Sports customers will be able to enjoy new, dedicated, darts programming across the year, including The Darts Show - a 12-episode, monthly magazine programme exclusive to the Sky Sports Action & Arena channels from January 2018. The channels will also broadcast the Unibet Premier League live, including the inaugural night in Berlin – a new host city on the 16-stop tour and home to the fastest growing darts market in the world.

With the William Hill World Darts Championship starting today, fans can enjoy every session live and exclusive on Sky Sports Darts HD (channel 408). The Sky Sports Main Event channel will also simulcast live play on specific days, and non-Sky customers can follow all the action with daily, weekly or monthly sports passes from NOW TV.

The announcement continues a series of strong major rights deals for Sky Sports over the past twelve months; including deals with the EFL and ECB, Women’s Six Nations Rugby, UEFA Qualifiers, and from 2019, Sky Sports will become the exclusive home of Formula 1® in the UK & ROI. 

For further information, please contact:

Sky Sports PR

020 7032 1445

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company, serving 22.5 million customers across six countries - UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain. The company has annual revenues of £12.9 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with annual programming spend of over £6 billion.

From exclusive partnerships with HBO and Showtime, to Sky Original Productions, Sky offers the best and broadest range of content along with the best viewing experience to suit each and every customer. Whether that’s through the multi-award winning next generation box, Sky Q, or Sky’s contract-free online streaming service, NOW TV, customers have access to the latest movies, drama, sports and kids entertainment wherever and whenever they like. This is all supported by Sky’s best in class customer service.

Sky’s success is not just based on what the company does but how it does it. Named as one of the Top 10 Green Companies in the World by Newsweek, one of the world’s most recognised rankings of business’s environmental performance, Sky ensures its responsible business strategy is embedded right across the group.

Sky has over 31,000 employees and is listed as one of The Times Top 50 employers for women. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).

PDC Head of Media

Dave Allen dave.allen@pdc.tv

About The PDC

The leading professional body in darts, the Professional Darts Corporation was originally founded as the World Darts Council in 1993 after a group of leading players broke away from the BDO organisation. The PDC has gone from strength to strength since, with £11 million in annual prize money now available on the PDC’s global professional circuit alongside the biggest tournaments in the sport.

Over 300,000 fans have watched PDC tournaments live in 2017, with global television reach for the sport also at an all-time high and the standard of play greater than ever.

The PDC circuit includes the series of televised events, European Tour and ProTour for professional players, alongside the second-tier Challenge Tour and the Development Tour for youth players aged 16-23.

For further information, see www.pdc.tv.