Barry Hearn has lifted the lid on the key bit of advice he gave darts dynamo Luke Littler on his rise to the pinnacle. And it may help the teenage talent retain as much of his wealth as possible after he earned more than £1million in his debut year on the PDC Tour.
‘The Nuke’ has exploded into the elite of his field since finishing as runner-up at the 2024 World Darts Championship and is eyeing the gold at Alexandra Palace this year. But not all the attention that comes with fame is positive.
Littler, 17, recently spoke on The Sports Agents podcasts about his rise to stardom and how that has led to “fake friends” emerging from the woodwork. Those kinds of relationships can be common around breakthrough talents as people seek to claim a piece of their pie, and Hearn sought to lend the youngster some advice in that regard.
“I talked to him a couple of days ago, and actually I said something similar to him,” Hearn told Express Sport. “‘Listen, you’re going to find you’ve got a lot of friends now, son. You’re 17 years old – don’t listen to anybody. Give yourself a chance. Just put the money in the bank and forget about it.’
“I said, ‘It’s the best advice I could ever give anyone. We’ve got plenty of time to spend money, not necessarily plenty of time to earn money. You don’t know what’s around the corner. So cash is king.'”
Hearn is one who should know after building Matchroom into a behemoth of the British sports scene. His company has come to rule the roost in the worlds of darts, snooker and pool, while it also boasts a substantial sway in boxing.
Littler’s success at such an early age has many pegging him for long-term glory, and he’s among the frontrunners to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. And Hearn is among those backing the prospect to accomplish wonders.
When asked for Littler’s reponse, Hearn replied: “He just smiled and said, ‘yeah, that makes sense.’ And I hope it does, because he could be a multi, multi-sporting millionaire.”
The sky is the limit for the Warrington native after finishing second to Luke Humphries at All Pally this past January. He’s since won the Premier League, Grand Slam and World Series of Darts in his maiden year as a pro, not to mention reaching the final of the Players Championship.
While discussing Littler’s earnings potential, Hearn even likened him to golf icon Tiger Woods. The Nuke still has a long way to go before matching Woods’ impact on sport, but there are few talents who have achieved instant success in the same fashion.
I had a call this morning from a friend of mine in Las Vegas, who said, ‘tell me about Luke Littler’,” he said. “I said, ‘I don’t need to tell you. Do you remember Tiger Woods?’ And it’s that type of Tiger Woods moment. When someone comes in and changes the sport to the benefit of everybody, including himself.”
