Luke Littler WILL win SPOTY

He won't just win, he'll get the most votes any winner has ever had i think.
Gonna go back to january when i was gagging to get on but feared the euro's and the olympics, as a euro win would of seen all bets lose. The games was less of a worry coz in my head, Luke would only lose to someone who does something really special, not just win one gold. Someone had to win two or three, then he'd of been in trouble. Hence my excitement over Emma, got a bit carried away with that in the aftermath lol. Then i refocused on plan A and started to research what Luke had been upto after not following his progress at all. This thread now highlights that plus other bullet points that contribute to make him fantastic value to get the award.

Here are the bullet points i will digest.

1) Keely
2) Impact
3) The award
4) A-List support
5) Documentary
6) Voting power

Before that, lets see his achievements till this point on his debut season in the PDC.

7 titles in 7 months (1 per month)
1st player to win multiple player championship titles in 2024
Youngest player ever to hit a televised 9 dart finish
Youngest player ever to win a PDC title
Joint record holder for most points in the premier league
9 darter v Humphries in prem final and won title
9 darter v Aspinall in 1st European tour event, then won title
9 darter v Cross in euro tour final, won that title
9 darter v Turetta then average 109.64 to beat Searle on his players championship debut
1st to throw fastest four 9 darters in one calendar year, Van Gerwan and Price only other players to achieve this but both took longer to do it. Luke still has the chance to be the 1st player in history to have five 9 darters in a calendar year.
Littler youngest player ever to hit a broadcast 9 darter, in 2021 at the age of 14
Youngest player to reach the PDC world championship final
Broke record for highest average for a debutant at the world darts championship with a 106.12
Luke finished his debut season on the world series circuit in 1st place, which means he will lead the seeds for the finals in september
Named on Forbes under 30 list, which was an online vote

This year’s class was selected from hundreds of nominations, submitted through a public online nomination form and generated from research and conversations with industry sources.
.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2024/04/09/30-under-30-europe-sports--games-darts-phenom-luke-littler-headlines-the-athletes-and-entrepreneurs-announcing-their-arrival-on-the-big-stage/

1) Keely

To compare the fav with Kelly Holmes is simply not comparable imo, by 2004 Kelly was a household name and A-Lister who actually won two golds 800 and 1500, so no shock whatsoever she was awarded SPOTY.
Keely, Keely who ? yeah she done good but she didn't even attend the closing ceremony and is hardly lighting up media stories post games. Hardly known to the wider public before the games and a bit more known now. That is not on a level with Holmes, maybe in 4 years time yes but certainly not now.
As for potential votes, i see a very strong turnout from the 60+ crowd.

2) Impact

Darts long considered a pub game, Phil's success and with the emergence of the the PDC and SkySports the money came in, a professional appearance took hold and it went from game to sport. However with the arrival of Luke he has took it to another level and transcended darts into a global phenomenon. With other pro dart players in awe and thankful for what Luke has done for their sport, closest a dart player came to winning SPOTY was Phil in 2010, losing out to Tony who finally won the grand national after years of trying. So Phil never really stood a chance, year on year from then darts has grown. I actually believe Luke right now is probably just as well known if not more than Phil was at the height of his career, especially as social media is bigger than ever these days.

The impact Luke has had in pubs and anywhere with a dartboard is simply insane, i go to a lot of pubs on a daily basis for work. Ive spoken to many locals and landlords, they all say the same thing, you can't get on the dart board as so many more people are now practising. Dart teams cant even practice, loads of landlords have had to put extra boards in the pubs so the teams can practice before a match. Luke has completely changed the landscape, he's not just made darts popular. He's made into an addition !!

3) The Award

So SPOTY is actually the same day as the world darts championship begins On Dec 15th, advertising will start long before and Littler Fever will start once again. Especially with non dart fans who may not have him on their radar. Its a very timely reminder for all these people of what he did the year before, matches will start in the afternoon and spoty will be on in the evening. I can foresee a very, very busy night on SM that sunday.

I believe everyone involved with darts in a professional manor from the players to the Hearns, advertisers, sponsors and the governing bodies will finally want to see there sport get the recognition it deserves. Luke winning SPOTY from the public will finally achieve this after years and years, it would be seen as a pinnacle moment. From pub game to sport to SPOTY.

Jessica Gadirova won young spoty and was also a nominee for the main award in 2022, so no excuse for just giving Luke young spoty. Although she was 18 the night of the award and Luke will still be only 17. So even if they come up with some daft rule that he's under 18 and not eligible to be shortlisted for the main award. Im almost certain all stakes would be returned after a few thousand emails to IBAS complaining he should of never been on the market if not eligible to win the award.

4) A-List support

Luke is a Man U fan and already received plaudits from Rio Ferdinand and Luke Shaw, his fans range from sports stars, movie stars to national treasures. Vast support from all walks of life, i imagine the Hearns will be using all there influence to make sure he gets plenty of pushing for the award come the night.
Anyone remember Gio Fletcher winning the jungle with all her powerful celeb friends. I fully expect similar for Luke on the night and the lead up.

5) Documentary

This will appear on our screens later this year, and make no bones about it. This will be mostly about Luke's rise, its meant to be about all players, behind the scenes, friends and family involvement. It will be but you can guarantee Luke will feature far more heavily. Luke is the goose who lays golden eggs as far as sky sports are concerned, he is the new superstar and this documentary will be designed to get people tuning into the upcoming world darts championship once again where viewing records were smashed.

There is a chance the split from his girlfriend will be covered where he publicly defended her after she was treated roughly on SM, telling people to lay off her. Which may of caused him distress, so he will get some love for that.
He actually dumped her via text message, but the media love him so much that they pretty much defended him by saying. Well he is only 17, thats what all kids do. If that was any one a bit older and not as loved the media would of crucified them. The kid can do no wrong !!

Luke has also took quite a bit of stick over his weight since he burst onto the scene, i will be quite shocked if this don't play a big part in the documentary. Has it upset him what ex players have said and random people on SM ? we all know that digging out someones weight issues leads to massive motivation to vote for someone as seen before on RTV events.
A very recent picture of him winning the cheshire open does look like he has lost a bit of weight, so has something hit home ?

6) Voting power

As mentioned he's already performed well in an online vote by getting on the forbes under 30 list.
There is a very good article i will C&P in the next post coz im getting tired now, the numbers are quite insane.
He was watched on sky sports and now tv by nearly 5 million in the final back in january, which broke all records by a non footy sport. It matched viewing figures from premier league matches.
I think if that final was shown on terrestrial tv it would of had 15-30 million viewers imo with the hype surrounding it at the time.
Also how many pubs around the country had 20-30-50-100-200 people watching him that evening. That would of counted as one for rating purposes. Not to forget house gathering of countless people.