Pro Darts

The Trials And Tribulations Of Pro Darts, And Where The Game Can Go From Here

Pro darts has been declining in popularity in days recent. The game enjoyed its golden age during the 1980s, when the top players were household names, and the sport was on television regularly as part of British TV's major sports shows. Since then, there have been troubled times. The sport's governing body, the British Darts Organization, could not agree terms with many of the leading players, who then broke away and formed their own governing body, even running their own version of the world champion ship.

The breakaway players were lucky in that they made their break at a time when satellite television was just starting to grow. Had they broken away five years earlier, the amount of media coverage they would have gained would have been very limited. The world championship itself would have been played without any TV coverage. As it was, the satellite TV companies were actively looking for quality events they could use to entice viewers away from the BBC, so a breakaway darts organization with big name players was a godsend for them.

Even though the rival darts organization prospered to an extent through satellite TV and the presence of big names, the British Darts Organization events remain better funded, and, paradoxically given the name, have a more cosmopolitan membership. The game of darts has been saved to a large degree by being able to expand into other countries and find new players and new money on the continent of Europe. The Netherlands has become a hotbed of British darts, and has produced two world champions, one of whom has consistently been ranked as the world number one on the computer.

Pro darts has also seen a dramatic change in the rapid rise of electronic darts. At the same time as darts was in a steep decline in Great Britain, the electronic game was becoming popular on the European continent. Suddenly, it was possible to see darts being played in countries where it was previously unheard of, and electronic darts became popular on pan-European satellite TV. This had the effect of bringing the game to the attention of more fans throughout the continent, and a period of rapid growth has ensued.

The future of pro darts must be somewhat uncertain. The two rival factions of traditional British darts are still running their own versions of the world championship, and some players even move back and forth between the two organizations, making the situation somewhat farcical. It would clearly be in the game's best interest for the two groups to unify, but there seems no prospect of anyone taking the lead to make that happen. Electronic darts is bringing fresh players in to the game, and some of these may well try the traditional game at some stage if the prize money is good enough to warrant that. Darts is surviving well, but is surviving largely beneath the surface with most of the media interest gone. It will be fascinating to watch what happens in the next ten years of pro darts.

 

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