Sky may lose its darts rights as streamers look to move in on the action, following the success of Luke Littler

Sky darts

Sky Sports could lose its coveted rights to air the PDC World Darts Championship as Amazon Prime and Netflix enter negotiations to buy TV rights, according to a report in The Telegraph.

Sky currently has a seven-year deal to broadcast the Championship, but that comes to an end after this year’s event (which begins later this month).

Since Luke Littler came to prominence, interest in the Championship is much higher than it was when Sky previously negotiated its rights deal.

Sky is paying around £12 million a year under the current contract, for 60 days of live darts a year, including the World Championship.

PDC chairman Barry Hearn apparently now values the contract to be worth around £45 million a year - a huge increase on the current deal.

The Telegraph’s report says Sky will pay up to around £25 million but not much more, while talks with Amazon and Netflix have “strengthened belief that the PDC can land a bumper deal”.

Darts is now Sky’s biggest sport outside of football by viewing figures. The previous PDC World Darts Championship final between. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries saw a 150% increase in the TV audience, compared to the final before (between Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen).