Luke Humphries and Luke Littler played the US Darts Masters final in front of a sell-out 5,000 crowd at Madison Square Garden, a reported record attendance for darts in the United States.
Humphries retained the bet365 US Darts Masters with an 8-7 deciding-leg win over Littler at the Infosys Theater on Friday night, but the setting mattered almost as much as the silverware.
The world’s top two had already carried a heavy storyline into New York after partnering England to World Cup of Darts glory earlier this month. Their first US Darts Masters final then gave the PDC a clean Stateside marker: a full room, a marquee rivalry and a finish that went all the way to a last-leg 11-darter.
New York gives PDC a sharper US benchmark
Humphries averaged 104 in the final and became the first player to win back-to-back US Darts Masters titles in New York, while Littler hit nine maximums before being denied from 86 in the decider.
According to Sporting Life’s match report, Humphries called MSG “the most iconic venue” darts will visit and said the event keeps improving each year.
That is the line for the PDC now. Humphries has the trophy, Littler has the American pull, and New York has given the World Series a bigger commercial argument than a simple exhibition stop.
