Teen darts sensation Luke Littler has applied to trademark his nickname of ‘The Nuke’ so he can apply it to a range of licensed products – including perfumes.
The 17-year-old, who rose to global fame after reaching the final of the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship (WDC), has filed an application with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to protect his personal brand from imitators.
Reports suggest the application would cover a wide variety of merchandise including beauty products such as cologne, soap and deodorant.
But Littler, who already sells his own officially licensed darts, stems and flights as well as darts shirts, also wants to flog everyday clothing such as t-shirts, pyjamas and even ‘Nuke’ slippers.
The application was submitted to the IPO by Gravity Brands Ltd, a Harlow-based firm run by businessman Garry Plummer, who also chairs darts firm Target Darts, responsible for Littler’s official range of darts.
Luke Littler has filed an application with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office to protect his ‘The Nuke’ nickname after his storming World Darts Championship run (above)
Littler won legions of adoring fans during the championship with his down-to-earth personality and love of kebabs
He already sells a range of officially licensed products including darts produced by Target Darts – whose chairman also runs the firm behind his IPO application
Target has since expanded its range of Luke Littler products to include an official replica of his competitive darts shirt (above) as well as dart wallets
Littler has also secured a lucrative tie-up deal with fashion brand boohooMAN, who are now one of his shirt sponsors
But humble Littler continues to support his smaller, local sponsors too – including his local Skoda dealership in Warrington (on his shirt, above)
Its bid to protect Littler’s brand name from knock-off merchants, first reported in The Sun, comes after experts predicted that the young superstar could make as much as £40million over the course of his career with a flurry of sponsorship deals.
He had made the grand total of £2,500 playing darts professionally before qualifying for the WDC – where he walked away with the runner-up prize of £200,000 after losing to 28-year-old Luke Humphries after a seemingly unstoppable run to the final.
His performance, coupled with his down-to-earth, kebab-munching persona won him millions of adoring fans overnight – including darts aces such as Stephen Bunting and even prime minister Rishi Sunak.
Neil Hopkins, of ad agency M&C Saatchi, said earlier this year that Littler could likely command six-figure sums for any sponsorship deals in order to keep his bank balance healthy.
And sports marketing consultant Daniel Tunna said: ‘Luke is a generational darts talent and he’s already achieved remarkable things.
‘If he is at the summit of the darts world for 20 years, he could be well on the way to amassing a £40million fortune.
‘Littler’s talent, combined with smart management, and continued high-level performance, have the potential to make him the highest-earning darts player in the world.’
Shortly after his record-breaking WDC run, Littler set up a new company, Luke Littler Darts, to handle his commercial and professional income.
He has since acquired a major new sponsor in the form of fashion brand boohooMAN.
Target Darts has also expanded the range of licensed Littler products it sells – including darts wallets and brass darts for beginners.
Despite his new commercial trappings, Littler still remains humble if another of his sponsors is anything to go by: at this week’s Premier League Darts tournament in Brighton, his shirt continued to bear the logo of his local Skoda dealer in Warrington.
Littler bowed out of the Premier League tournament on night six at the semi-final stages, before his WDC rival Humphries took the crown; but he has since claimed a dramatic win on his European Tour Darts debut against Jose de Sousa.
Last month, he shocked fans by announcing he was giving up late night fast food – and could down tools at the age of 27 ‘if I’ve had enough’.