NEW data reveals that 16-year-old darts star Luke Littler has become the most-followed darts player on social media after making headlines at the PDC World Darts Championship 2024 at Alexandra Palace.
The data revealed that Luke “The Nuke” Littler gained over one million followers across Instagram, X, and Facebook since debuting at the 2024 championship. His online following is now the highest among darts pros, overtaking Michael van Gerwen after skyrocketing by over 35 times since 27 December, surging from 30,000 to over 1,070,000.
The top ten most-followed darts pros on social media
| Rank | Name | X | Total | ||
| 1 | Luke Littler | 1,070,000 | 45,000 | 140,000 | 1,255,000 |
| 2 | Michael van Gerwen | 456,000 | 345,000 | 412,300 | 1,213,300 |
| 3 | Phil Taylor | 73,700 | 403,000 | 348,000 | 824,700 |
| 4 | Raymond van Barneveld | 167,000 | 172,000 | 248,000 | 587,000 |
| 5 | Peter Wright | 178,000 | 152,000 | 210,000 | 540,000 |
| 6 | Gerwyn Price | 277,000 | 1,700 | 140,000 | 418,700 |
| 7 | Michael Smith | 212,000 | 24,000 | 122,000 | 358,000 |
| 8 | Fallon Sherrock | 155,000 | 34,000 | 125,000 | 314,000 |
| 9 | Gabriel Clemens | 269,000 | 37,800 | 7,800 | 314,600 |
| 10 | Adrian Lewis | 48,600 | 0 | 190,000 | 238,600 |
Luke Littler is now the most-followed darts professional on social media. His follower count of 1.25 million now surpasses Michael van Gerwen, who was previously the most-followed player in the world. Littler has the most Instagram followers of all players, with 1.07 million, twice as many as Michael van Gerwen. Almost 600,000 users followed his Instagram over three days between 03 Jan and 05 Jan. Over the past month, he has gained 56,500 Instagram followers daily.
Michael van Gerwen is the most-followed player on social media, with over 1.21 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, and X.
Remarkably 16 x time World Champion Phil Taylor still ranks third among the most-followed pro darts players, with 824,700 followers across all platforms, this despitte retiring from the top flight more than five years ago
Ranking fourth through tenth are Raymond van Barneveld, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Fallon Sherrock, Gabriel Clemens, and Adrian Lewis.
2024 World Darts Champion Luke Humphries did not make the top ten, but is likely to increase both his activity and following after his multiple major winning efforts of recent months.
Research conducted by Japanese gambling guide 6takarakuji examined the social media statistics of world-ranking darts players to establish the top ten most popular on social media.
A spokesperson at 6takarakuji commented on the findings:
“Luke [Littler] is making huge waves in the game right now, being the youngest player to win matches at the PDC and WDF World Darts Championships. He will likely attract new young fans to the sport, making him an attractive prospect to sponsors. The attention he is attracting has led to a drastic boost to his social media presence, becoming the most-followed players in the world. It could attract even more sponsorship interest to him and the sport in general.”
It may also be worth noting that Phil Taylor’s high ranking is impressive due to his limited activity and exposure over the last 5 or so years. The generation which followed The Power, and their teams, might wish to consider the fact that despite being a far more social media and tech savvy generation many lag substantially.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
Methodology:
The names of the top players’ Instagram, Facebook, and X social media accounts and followings as of 15 Jan 2024 were identified using Google Search and entered into a database commissioned by https://www.6takarakuji.com/,. Each player was ranked according to the highest combined following across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Despite not currently being among the top world rankings, PDC Hall of Famer Phil Taylor was also included.
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