World Darts Championship final becomes Sky Sports’ most-watched non-football event EVER as viewing figures revealed

THE World Darts Championship final between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler was the most watched non-football event in Sky Sports history with a total audience of 4.8MILLION.

British sports fans from across the country tuned in to watch World No1 Luke Humphries beat 16-year-old sensation Luke Littler 7-4 at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday evening.

And Eddie Hearn have now confirmed it was Sky Sports' biggest viewership for a sporting event outside of football.

Explaining how it "smashed the ratings record" the promoter revealed it was watch by 4.8m people, with a peak audience of 3.71m.

Hearn added: "Darts has always been big, last night it became MASSIVE!"

Littler, making his debut at the world championships, peaked a swarm of new fans' interest in the competition.

He made history on the oche by beating 2018 champion Rob Cross to become the youngest ever player to reach the final.

And more history was made during the broadcast as the semi-final clash broke the record for Sky Sports' most-watched darts match with 2.3m viewers.

But 24 hours later, Littler's defeat to Humphries saw the record broken again by more than two million.

And the massive audience were treated to a superb contest between the top-rated player in the world and his teenage wonderkid opponent.

Littler whipped up the crowd by storming into a 4-2 lead as the fairytale triumph looked set to become a reality.

But Humphries roared back, rattling off five successive sets to claim a 7-4 victory and his first world title.

After the epic clash, Littler was gracious in defeat as he insisted he was happy with finishing second.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Warrington sensation said: "It's been unbelievable.

"I'm happy. I'm in the top 32 [in the world] and I finished runner-up in my debut. It's unbelievable."

Meanwhile, Humphries collapsed in a heap and broke out in tears after a double eight checkout to win the final.

And his girlfriend was also an emotional wreck as she watched on from the front row, before his team began celebrating wildly.