How Luke Littler is on path to £40millon net worth through sponsorship deals, sweaty merch and darts prize money
THE money keeps rolling in for Luke Littler.
On Sunday, the darts wonderkid, 17, won another European tour title when he beat Joe Cullen to land the Austrian Darts Open.
That win secured a £30,000 payday the Nuke £30,000, which was the same amount he secured for winning the Belgian Darts Open in March.
Along with success in Bahrain, the Dutch Masters and at the Worlds Championships, Littler has earned a staggering £387,000 in prize money from the sport.
But, it’s not just through darts where Littler, who was recognised by Forbes as one of the best rising stars in sport with a magazine cover, is coining it in.
Already, sponsors including BoohooMAN and Target have signed the prodigious teen up on huge sponsorship deals.
YouTubers Sidemen drafted Luke in to promote their new cereal brand, Best.
While he has found a novel side hustle of selling off his used match shirts for up to £800.
Marketing dream
Littler became the talk of the sporting world in January, when he reached the final of the World Darts Championship.
Although he lost the final to Luke Humphries, he earned £200,000 for making so far.
He also won the hearts of brands – with marketing managers seeing pound signs in their eyes the moment they locked eyes on Littler.
Young, talented, and relatable – it was no wonder BoohooMAN threw themselves at him first.
The online fashion retailer had already used footballers including Dele Alli and Jack Grealish for their range.
Now it was Littler’s turn. He was offered a reported multi-million pound contract based on bonuses and potential earnings that he could earn in the coming years, as well as a percentage of sales.
Then, he was seen modelling their wear in ads – looking as fashionable as ever.
A month later, Target darts became the latest to sponsor Luke – adding him to their stable that includes Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Nathan Aspinall, and Stephen Bunting.
Although the figure wasn’t released, it was said to be the ‘biggest deal in darts history’.
Capitalising on Littler’s moment, they soon released ‘The Nuke’ branded Tungsten arrows, as well as match shirts, and branded darts wallets.
YouTubers Sidemen were the next to snap up Littler, using him to promote their Best cereal.
In the filmed ad, Littler is seen tucking into a bowl whilst throwing three blind bullseyes.
After nailing the trio of 50 pointers, the oche icon gives the camera a cheeky eyebrow raise.
It’s no wonder because he’s making a mint.
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Success story
Because he’s making his money at such a young age from sponsors and in prize money, obvious comparisons to Tiger Woods have been made.
Littler might be hard pushed to match the legendary golfer’s £1billion fortune, but should be maintain the trajectory he is on in the years to come he will continue to rake it in.
Back in March, it was revealed he had made £5,000 per day in prize money since turning professional.
He is now understood to boast a stunning net worth of £600,000.
Along with successes at the worlds, Bahrain, the Dutch Masters, Belgian and Austrian, Littler is one of eight stars involved in the Premier League, a 17-week road show that takes in seven countries.
He is guaranteed a minimum of £60,000 for being involved in the first place.
And given that he’s currently top of the Premier League Darts table, should he win the thing – he will be net £275,000.
Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn has tipped Littler to emulate Tiger Woods.
He told the Telegraph: “This is a Boris Becker moment, this is a Tiger Woods moment.
“He’s clearly got a lot going for him, his parents and the group around him are very supportive. Now they mustn’t just look at the money because that will come automatically if you are good enough.
“There’s a tremendous number of great players coming through because they smell the money. Top of the tree darts players are probably earning £2 to £2.5million a year. The biggest job for him will be to actually control his diary.
“With him it’s a question of drip-feeding his notoriety. If I was managing him I’d put his fee up to an astronomical number and then, by the laws of supply and demand, that will cut down the possibility of him being burnt out.
“You compare it to [tennis player Emma] Raducanu. I wouldn’t be cruel and call it a flash in the pan but that [Raducanu’s 2021 US Open victory] is a one-off that hasn’t been followed up.
“She’s still a good player – there’s something missing there, injuries whatever. This kid [Littler], you think, could be the face of darts for the next 25 years.”
Selling sweaty merch
To top it off, Littler is now peddling the clothing off his own back.
He is cashing in on his success by selling signed match-worn shirts, having started selling replica shirts in March.
His signed shirt from his World Championship debut is available for £799.99.
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has since joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
Check out all of our Luke Littler stories here.
The shirt he wore as he threw a nine-darter on route to winning the Belgian Darts Open in March is also on sale for the same price.
Clearly, Littler has a licence to print money right now.