Hearn: Trump key to future

The 21-year-old Bristolian's relaxed, attacking style captured the imagination of the public on his way to losing 18-15 to John Higgins in the World Championship final on Monday.

"I need new, exciting talent that entertains people, and Trump is exactly the kind of player I need," said Hearn.

"If I had to write down what I need, I'd actually give a description of Judd Trump - young, crazy hairstyle, aspirational figure, motivates young people, widens the audience, entertains.

"The first four frames of Sunday's afternoon session took less than an hour. That's like Jimmy White. In life, you can talk the talk, but you've got to walk the walk.

"As much as I am a salesman, I've got to be backed up by hard facts, and those hard facts are Judd Trump. It enables me to say: 'I told you so. There is something happening. There is a sparkle and it will bring in people.'"

Hearn said that he intends to attract a younger demographic to events in the coming years, in the same way that he did with the breakaway PDC darts organisation.

Hearn is also courting the European and Asian markets.

"It's also fascinating to see that in Europe the demographic is young, aspirational," said Hearn. "In Asia it's upmarket. In Japan it's super-upmarket.

"In the UK, it's a much older market. If you look around at the audience, you can see that it's mainly people between 35 and 55. Darts was like that. When I started to get involved, it was 45 to 55.

"It was old darts players from the pubs coming along to watch the World Championships. Fast forward five to six years, it is 18- to 28-year-olds, and that's the market you always aim for."

Hearn said that this market is so attractive because it attracts the most lucrative sponsorship deals.

"More and more gambling companies are looking to sponsor events, and what is the market they are looking for? The 18-to-30 age group. Trump delivers that," he added.

"In any industry, when someone new comes through it creates excitement. What we need to do is reinvigorate the domestic market alongside global expansion and we need new characters to drive the audience. Judd Trump is the man."

TV ratings for the final were up some way on last year, with Sunday's BBC coverage the most-watched in the UK having peaked at 5.3 million - and it was also being shown simultaneously on Eurosport.