Sport

Paddy Power breathes sigh of relief as Luke Littler loses

The gambling company is the title sponsor of World Darts Championship but a ban on the use of minors in marketing means they could not have cashed in on the 16-year-old

Sky Sports attracted a total of 4.8 million viewers across the television and Now streaming service broadcast of 16-year-old Luke Littler’s final against Luke Humphries. Picture: Getty

The post-Christmas lull can allow strange phenomena to break out into the mainstream in a way that would never happen during busier times of year.

A recent case in point was the viral success of the Wordle puzzle in December 2021 which Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle developed as a game for his family and posted online.

Having been shared more widely by word game enthusiasts in the autumn of the year, the puzzle went viral in the post festive haze with social media users looking for something to pass the days between the end of turkey sandwiches and the arrival of the New Year.