Sky Sports has doubled its darts contract to around £25 million a year
But this is well below the demands of PDC chairman Barry Hearn.
Next month is the last month Sky Sports’ seven-year contract applies
Sky Sports is facing losing the rights to broadcast the PDC World Darts Championship as Netflix and Amazon Prime are seeking TV rights to the annual broadcast, according to reports. Next month’s World Cup will be the final holiday tournament at Alexandra Palace covered by Sky’s current seven-year contract.
The highly anticipated tournament, which burst onto the scene last year when Luke Littler lost to Luke Humphreys in a thrilling World Cup final, has become hugely popular in recent years and is currently set to be courted by several broadcasters and streaming giants ahead of the upcoming PDC rights auction. Under the current deal, Sky currently spends around £12m a year to provide 60 days of live darts coverage, including the Christmas show.
According to the Telegraph, Sky would be willing to double the rights fee to around £25m, although that is likely to be well below PDC chairman Barry Hearn’s demands.
Earlier this year, Hearn warned Sky that they would need to \’up the ante\’ to secure rights in the future, telling the newspaper that he valued a new deal at approximately £45m per year, over three times more than the existing contract.
It is understood that the global streaming companies are particularly interested in the darts event due to its favourable position in the calendar, airing over both Christmas and New Year.
Given Littler\’s meteoric rise since his debut PDC World Championship last year, darts is also beginning to attract a younger audience and the subscription services\’ current demographics.
Amazon Prime already own the rights to several Premier League league fixtures in football and will televise every top flight match across Boxing Day and December 27, among other games next month. “We owe a lot to Sky,” Hahn said in September. “They’ve supported us from the very beginning and loyalty is a big part of our business.” “But I also have a responsibility to the players to maximize their revenue. There will be interesting conversations. \ ‘Compare us with others. Show what you pay for rugby union, league, and golf, and tell me why I don’t do the same. I really hope Sky goes up in price even more.
