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Paddy Power’s title sponsorship of this year’s World Darts Championship was more about entertaining people than just getting them to bet – a strategy which the Flutter-owned brand believes is key to building long-term brand affinity.
Paddy Power renewed its partnership with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) ahead of the latest edition of darts’ showpiece event, which took place at London’s Alexandra Palace from 11th December to 3rd January. The five-year deal came after the brand initially signed on as title partner in 2023, replacing online used car retailer Cazoo.
Since then, the PDC has continued to go from strength to strength, inking a five-year broadcast extension with Sky Sports reportedly worth UK£125 million (US$168 million), while the emergence of teenage sensation and two-time world champion Luke Littler has cemented darts’ position as one of the most sought-after properties in British sport. Reflecting that momentum, tickets for the latest World Darts Championship sold out within an hour.
“It was an easy decision,” says Jack Wilson, Paddy Power’s head of content and channels, when SportsPro asks about the partnership renewal with the PDC. “We watched [the World Darts Championship] from afar with mass envy over the last five to ten years. When it became available, we snapped it up.
“We wanted to be synonymous with the best and biggest Christmas party in Europe.”
Paddy Power signed on as title sponsor of the PDC World Darts Championship in 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
“We don’t want to do the same thing twice”
Paddy Power is known as much for its marketing as it is for its betting offers. The brand describes itself as having an ‘oddball approach’ that serves up ‘a side of mischief’. That manifests in humorous, self-aware marketing campaigns that frequently go viral – entertaining and, at times, antagonising audiences along the way.
During the most recent World Championship, the Irish bookmaker rolled out marketing content across multiple platforms, which included pranking players and former referee Russ Bray educating fans about ‘proper etiquette’ during matches. Paddy Power, a senior executive who the firm is named after, has previously said being an entertainment brand is a cornerstone of the business, helping it standout in an industry “where we all sell exactly the same product”.
With its party atmosphere, offbeat humour and irreverent fan interaction, darts is an obvious fit for Paddy Power to showcase its entertainment credentials.
“We don’t want to do the same thing twice,” says Wilson. “We always want to challenge ourselves creatively to come up with new ideas.
“Every single year, we tend to lay all our cards on the table and throw everything we possibly can behind it.”
It’s worth noting that this approach has landed Paddy Power in hot water over the years. Perhaps the most infamous incident was the 2014 advert involving Oscar Pistorius, which the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ordered to be withdrawn after it became the most complained-about UK campaign ever.
Today, Wilson believes that a key component of Paddy Power’s marketing output is “building trust in our brand” and “to do good for the community, for the nation at large”. This was on display at the 2026 World Darts Championship with ‘The Even Bigger 180’ campaign, which saw Paddy Power donate UK£1,000 (US$1,350) to Prostate Cancer UK for every 180 hit at the tournament, ultimately raising UK£1.25 million (US$1.68 million).
The campaign was the successor to ‘The Bigger 180’, which featured in Impact X, the initiative produced by SportsPro in collaboration with SportQuake that spotlights the most impactful, creative and effective partnerships in sport.
‘Darts is a limited revenue driver’
While Paddy Power’s sports content output is prolific, its sports sponsorship portfolio is comparatively modest. The bookmaker is the title sponsor of Cheltenham’s Gold Cup but long-term deals with other competitions or teams have been rare and are often designed to deliver immediate impact rather than sustained visibility.
A case in point was the brand’s tie-up with Huddersfield Town in 2019. The club unveiled a shirt featuring comically oversized Paddy Power branding, which irked fans and media alike and prompted the Football Association (FA) to fine the Terriers UK£50,000 (US$67,000).
The stunt later turned out to be a hoax and marked the launch of Paddy Power’s ‘Save Our Shirt’ campaign, which advocated for a return to sponsor-free jerseys – a sentiment that resonated strongly with many fans.
It would be reasonable to assume that a gambling company serving as lead sponsor of the world’s biggest darts tournament would focus primarily on driving betting activity around the event. According to Wilson, that isn’t the case for Paddy Power.
“The way darts betting works is lots of the markets are two-way,” he explains. “It’s not like football. So [darts] would be a relatively limited revenue driver for any operator, including us.
“To us, it’s more about showing up as a brand and enhancing that experience.
“It’s all about entertaining and engaging. And then if someone wants to place a bet, great. If they just want to lap up our content, that’s also great.”
‘The PDC are not a blocker’
Wilson notes that by not sponsoring clubs in the higher tiers of English soccer – a space where other betting brands are prolific – Paddy Power is able to create a “focal point in the calendar” around the World Darts Championship, ensuring the brand has a longer lead in time to plan and execute its activations.
Still, it’s difficult to imagine Paddy Power teaming up with Premier League clubs, which often err on the side of caution to protect their global profiles. By contrast, Wilson says the PDC “operates with the speed of a startup company” where the “speed of clarity on decision-making is refreshing”.
“They know what we are, they know what we want to do,” he continues. “They help us push the boundaries, they’re not a blocker.”
Ultimately, the working relationship is a productive one because both organisations have shared ambitions.
“The PDC want to grow the game of darts and so do we,” says Wilson. “The players want to grow their own profile, they’re trying to do more on their social media. And then we come along with an idea for a scripted piece of content [with them] which is going to make everyone laugh and look great on their channels and get eyeballs on the spot.
“The PDC win, the players win. There are no negatives to it. We’re all in it together for the same greater goal.”
🎯 Time to say goodbye, Ally Pally…
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) January 4, 2026
It's been a pleasure. See you again in December.@OfficialPDC | 18+ GambleAware pic.twitter.com/5f9RHjB5Ma
Building trust through entertainment
Paddy Power has made itself the leader in betting and sports news with a side of mischief, but it would be too simplistic to think replicating this content is a guaranteed recipe for success. Indeed, the line between striking the right tone and annoying consumers is a thin one.
Last year, for instance, Google Pixel’s ‘Switch Like Sol’ campaign was a playful example of a brand promoting itself around the high-profile North London Derby between arch-rivals Arsenal and Tottenham. On the flip side, the Domino’s pizza chain’s attempt to be part of the conversation around the match felt unimaginative, lazy and, perhaps most damningly, unfunny.
For Wilson, brand content needs to be “about entertaining people” which, in turn, encourages them to share it and organically builds loyalty. He cites the success Paddy Power has had as an advertiser on TikTok, where the average watch time for its darts ads is 19.2 seconds, which he says is nearly ten times the industry standard.
“If you give someone two minutes of really joyous content they can consume and it makes their day slightly, they’re going to trust you more, respect you more and think you’re more entertaining,” adds Wilson.
“That’s what we try and do. Being like Paddy Power is effectively a verb for making people laugh.”
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