On Sunday, the World Darts Championship begins again at Alexandra Palace in London. The 18-day-long competition is one of the best sporting events of the year. No, American readers, I haven’t gone mad. It’s true! Christmas officially starts the first time you hear that music.
It is hard to explain why to anyone outside of the UK that this has become such a big deal, but it is. And it’s almost entirely down to TV.
For decades darts was, let’s be honest, a bit of a joke. A thing played by old blokes in grimy pubs. Then promotor Barry Hearn worked with Sky Sports to polish things and the cash poured in.
Now, the broadcaster dedicates an entire channel to the competition over the Christmas period. This year’s Sky Sports ad campaign, “Merry Football Dartsmas” shows how embedded it has become, given that football was always dominant at this time of year.
How Darts Became Huge
There are a few key factors as to why darts is as huge as it is. The prize money is big now, meaning the players are professionals. This makes for genuinely high-quality action.
The coverage takes itself seriously… but not too seriously. The producers and commentators know it is as fun to watch the walk-ons and the fancy dress-clad crowd as it is to follow the matches. They don’t shy away from that. However, all involved also know that the players have worked hard to be there so approach the punditry like any other sport. If it was just the commentators being mocking for three weeks, then it would get tedious, but that isn’t what happens.
There are often great individual stories too. Whether that is Fallon Sherrock becoming the Queen of the Palace as she beat more established male competitors in a couple of rounds in 2020, or the rise of teenager Luke Littler last year, they capture the public’s imagination.
Essentially, the PDC World Dart’s Championship is a massive party packaged into a slick media event at exactly the right time of year. It has grown exponentially and the organisers have to be careful not to lose what works by, for example, moving to a big venue and risking the magic of the atmosphere.
For now, the balance is absolutely right. Let’s hope we get some more iconic moments like the one below in the weeks to come.
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