5/13/2016

THE HISTORY OF DARTS

Scott Gilmour
NC Games B
Academic Skills H60C 45
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................. 2
History of the British Darts Organisation ......................................................................... 2
History of the Professional Darts Corporation .................................................................. 4
The Split ..................................................................................................................... 6
PDC was a move forward ........................................................................................... 8
Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 9

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Introduction
Darts, a simple yet skilful game where a player plays for fun or bragging rights. Although it
is widely put as a pub sport, the game has been taken further by companies and organisations
alike trying to bring a better name to the family favourite. For the following report there is
going to be a discussion about the history of the main organisations in darts, The British
Darts organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation. The discussion will then take into
account the progress of both these companies and discuss why the takeover of the darts by the
PDC was the right thing for the sport at this time. The report will highlight the lows and the
highs of the sport and will give account for the progression of the sport from the local pubs
and clubs to the centre stage of some of the world’s biggest venues.

History of the British Darts Organisation

Imagine the scenes, sitting in the pub with a few friends having a few drinks when someone
suggests a game of darts. Great ideas have a few games and next thing you know you’re
getting better and better. You haven’t lost yet and thought you’ve found a knack for the
game… This is usually where it would end but now there is a new organisation called the
British Darts Organisation. Next thing you know you’ve gone to a professional tournament
and you’re playing the idols of the sport. This is where the British Darts Organisation or
BDO has come into play. In 1973, the BDO was created by Olly Croft (1) who at the time
managed the likes of inter-county matches and associations within the darting community.
His main focus at the time was setting up county matches when he decided to start to branch
out by running international events which at the time were only represented by 8 countries
most of them covered by the United Kingdom and Holland. Olly decided at the point of the
creation of the BDO that he wanted to be able to create tournaments where the players would

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receive prize money and sponsors for playing and hoped to have televised matches for the
players to get their name out there as the big names in the sport of darts.

In 1976 Olly Croft had the embassy final televised and sponsored by the News of the
World(1) in which was to be one of the biggest matches in the history of darts as Eric Bristow
MBE played Bobby George. In this final things were very different to the way darts is played
now. If you have ever watched a game on the BBC and thought the crowd were on one of the
players backs it was nothing in comparison to this match where the players were literally in
the fans laps at certain stages of the match. In this final players were allowed to bring their
drink up onto the stage and smoke as much as they wanted, nothing changes your perspective
on a sport more like watching your idol go up to an oche with a bit of a stagger and cigarette
hanging out his mouth and throw better darts than you could ever imagine throwing.
Nowadays this has changed though as players are only allowed to drink water on stage and no
cigarettes or cigars or even vapes are allowed anywhere near the venue. The final for the
embassy was just like this, something completely different than darts today and in some ways
made darts what it is today. In this game the crowd was split for who they wanted to win, one
side constantly shouting Eric Bristow while the others chanted Bobby George(1) back like it
was a vocal game of tennis. The atmosphere was out of this world, the players could feel it
throughout the game and this made the stepping stone for what would be the most pivotal
moment in darts. The players got a feel for the power of being able to command a crowd,
they enjoyed the lifestyle that followed. Travelling around the world playing games, getting
publicity for matches and getting paid by sponsors for matches…. That is until the day that
Olly Croft had dreaded came and the BBC decided to axe the televised matches for darts in
favour of the newly trending pub sports Snooker(3).

Olly Croft who had been able to command the different tournaments and leagues was now
left with only the world championship as the only televised darts tournament(3) and this
affected sponsors who decided to stop contracts and drop out completely of the darts scene.
In 1988, Olly Croft had players who were now only playing in one televised event and were
now struggling to make a living from their profession in the sport(3). This is where the PDC
came into play and changes the face of darts for the better.

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History of the Professional Darts Corporation

In 1992, the world of darts was changed for good as the majority of players in the top 10 had
had enough. These players who were trying to make a living from the sport they loved had
just been told that they would be losing sponsors and losing the publicity and fame from
playing on the television as their main source of publicity the BBC had axed all but one
tournament from their airing schedule to focus on the next up and coming sport Snooker(3).

The last point for the decision to break away from the BDO came when they released a
videotape of highlights of some of the top players in the BDO at the time(3). Now this might
not seem bad until you realise that the players and their agents were given no money from the
video that was produced. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Sid Waddell
would say. The players and a few notable managers such as Dick Allix and Tommy Cox had
decided to break away from Olly Croft and the British Darts Organisation and try and
progress the sport of darts to a new platform(3). This was when the World Darts Council was
created(4). The WDC was created to give the players and managers back their belief in the
sport and ability to make their living off the sport again. The slow decline of darts on the
BDO side left things feeling very hard for the WDC where 16 of the world’s top players had
now made the move over from the BDO to the WDC(3). This infuriated Olly Croft and the
BDO and they subsequently banned all the players who moved over from all BDO events
televised or no(1)t. You would think this would have caused a lot of trouble for the players
who had moved over but you’d be wrong.

In October of 1992, the WDC had their first event already as the UK masters were created
and were the first Televised tournament for the WDC(4). This was the stepping stone for the
darts world as the World Darts Council Signed a contract with the new sports provider at the
time Sky Sports to show three televised tournaments every year on Sky Sports(4). The Big
changing point for the WDC came when the event was broadcasted on the sky because the
sky was a sports channel and was subscription based so seeing a full event on their channels
wasn’t unheard of at the time. In the BDO’s previous events the final was the only match
shown as it was down under the BBC’s contract as a general entertainment show meaning

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only the last game was ever shown(1). However, with Sky every game leading up to and
including the final was shown on the channel giving every player who qualified for the
tournament their moment in the spotlight and giving the players who progressed further into
the tournament more and more publicity and fame.

The first event to take place on Sky was the World Championship in 1993-1994 that was
held over the Christmas and New Year period(4). This was the event that got the partnership
with Sky Sport which still remains as I write this. Everything was going well for the WDC
and the name change came about in 1997 where they had the court case to state that amongst
other things they were not a world governing body and changed their name from the World
Darts Council to the Professional Darts Corporation(3). This stated that the newly known
PDC understood that World Darts Federation was the governing body for the world darts and
that the British Darts Organisation was the governing body for darts in the United
Kingdom(3). Everything went smoothly for the PDC and in 2001 the board of directors who
had got the PDC where they were to that date decided to step down in favour of a specialist
team who was headed by a very well-known sports promoter known as Barry Hearn.

Barry Hearn is an English sports event promoter who is a founder and chairman of a
promotion company called Matchroom Sport. In his company Barry has been involved in
many sports such as golf, fishing and table tennis to name a few. Barry was also the chairman
of Leyton Orient Football Club until July 2014. Barry and his connections with the sports
companies had the task of getting darts all over and succeeded as under Barry Hearn’s reign
as the chairman of the PDC he has collected a lot of accolades within the darting world as
listed here.
- 2005 he governed the start of the Premier League of darts which runs every Thursday
for 16 weeks in arenas sold out across the UK and recently Holland(4)
- 2004 he organised the first professional tournament to be held in China(4)
- 2007 saw the grand slam of darts which featured players from both the PDC and BDO
who had reached finals throughout the season Play in Wolverhampton(4)
- 2008 he organised the World cup of darts which is battled out every year and is
represented by 24 countries(4)
Darts has taken a massive step forward in the world under Barry Hearn’s leadership and there
has also been rumours and speculation of Barry offering to buy the British Darts Organisation

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in the hope of uniting the darts under one name but so far to this date, every offer he has sent
has been rejected by the BDO.

The Split

Darts was a very well taken sport with everyone loving the booming publicity the sport was
getting at the time. A sport that once started as a small game in a pub had suddenly gained all
this publicity. However, the publicity wasn’t always a good thing as in 1980 the decline in
the game of darts started as the sport was mocked in a sketch from the show ‘Not the nine
o’clock news’ where the players were mocked for being heavy drinkers and overweight. In
the sketch, the players were judged on their score by how much drink they could drink in
three glasses(3). This sketch highlighting the problem some faced with the darts at this time
as during the 1980’s dart players could drink and smoke on stage during their matches. This
sketch was shown during the peak of darts and affected the light in which the darts was
brought under. Up until 1984 darts was a heavily broadcasted sport with players and
managers being given sponsors and publicity(3). Then during 1984 three tournaments were
subsequently stopped with another major darting show being cancelled two years later as the
World of sports show was cancelled. This show had previously shown darts on a regular
basis. Things went from bad to worse for darts as in the summer of 1988 the BBC announced
that they would be cancelling all showings of darts except the World Championship(3).

Next to axe the darts that year was ITV who stated that after the 1988 World Masters they
would stop showing darts completely(3). This was the biggest shock in the darting world as
they went from having tournaments all being televised to having one tournament being
televised. In 1989, the British Darts organisation tried to bring its name out of the dirt by
banning players from bringing a drink on the stage during the tournament but this went to no
avail as the damage was already done and the decline in televised tournaments and sponsors
continued(3). Things never were the same in darts and the players began to repute with the
sudden drop in prize money and players struggling to make a living out of the sport and the

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players began to think that the BDO could have done more to help the players get new
sponsors and events televised. In 1992, 16 of the top players left the BDO to join the WDC in
the hope of getting more publicity and sponsorship for their tournaments. In 1992, the WDC
had their first televised tournament of the UK Masters. In 1993, the Embassy World
Championship was the last time that all the players played under the one world
championship. On the 7th of January in 1993, the WDC players stated that they would only
play in the next world championship if they stated the game under the WDC which didn’t suit
the British Darts Organisation who suspended the following 16 players
- Phil Taylor
- Dennis Priestley
- Rod Harrington
- John Lowe
- Eric Bristow
- Jocky Wilson
- Bob Anderson
- Peter Evison
- Jamie Harvey
- Ritchie Gardner
- Cliff Lazarenko
- Kevin Spiolek
- Keith Deller
- Mike Gregory
- Chris Johns
In 1997, the two bodies of darts finally reached an agreement out of court in the form of a
Tomlin Order(1,2,4).

This order stated that the British Darts Organisation recognised the World Darts Organisation
as a governing body in darts and that they respect that the players have the freedom of choice
of who they wish to play for without the issues of suspensions or bans from the other
governing body(3). Although this seemed like a win for the WDC the order also stated that
the WDC would recognise that the British Darts Organisation is the governing body for darts
in the United Kingdom and that the World Darts Federation is the governing body for darts
throughout the world thus making the World Darts Council change their name to drop the

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world and thus their name was changed to the Professional Darts Corporation(3). Another
clause in the Tomlin order stated that if a player played in the BDO championship they would
not be allowed to move to the PDC until the following year after they played. This was all
fine till in 2006 where Raymon Van Barneveld won the BDO world championship and
moved to the PDC within a few weeks of the win(3). The BDO threatened to take legal action
but realised that they couldn’t due to cost before this breach.

PDC was a move forward

When the PDC came about darts was in a very dark era with the decline in the sport
drastically affecting both the players and the managers, darts was practically nothing when
the PDC came about. In this report so far I have explained the history of both the main
governing bodies of the darts world. We now know the dreams of Olly Croft and how he
went from nothing to giving players and managers a taste for the good life in darts. In saying
that he didn’t keep it going as the sport declined throughout the 1980’s to a state where there
was outrage with players and the inevitable split happened(1).

I have highlighted the history of the PDC and the change they made after the split picking up
the darts from the ground dusting it off and making it one of the most watched sports in the
world with contracts all over the world and countries from different continents battling it out
for a place in the elite top 32. The only question left to answer is was it all worth it. Did darts
become a better sport and entertainment business because of the PDC takeover or would it
have been better as it was? First thing is first when Olly Croft began to run the BDO the darts
was just a simple pub game that over the years had developed into a fun game that you did
with a few friends. He took it from the pub to the stage then to TV bringing in loads of great
players and sponsors for the sport. However, although that may be the case after the split in
darts the players were very quick to jump the gun from their roots to gain more publicity and
money and although that is not a bad thing it does show that in favour of the PDC that
bringing in more money and sponsors can really affect the popularity of the sport and

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business as a whole. This shows that with all the new sponsors there was more tournaments
and more publicity leading to the sport going around the globe bringing in attraction from
Japan, USA and Australia to name a few. There are however a few facts to take into
consideration. For example, would darts have been as big a hit if Sky sports was not around
at the time? Olly Croft failed to keep the contracts with the BBC and ITV over the airing of
the darts but if Sky hadn’t been around at the time would the PDC have tried to renegotiate
with the BBC and ITV over televised rights?(3) One thing is for certain that the PDC has
taken the darts from a very dark place and brought the name and sport into lights. As I am
writing this report there is currently 20,000 people queuing outside the 02 in London waiting
to watch the Premier League Final of Darts with £200,000 up for grabs for the winner of
tonight’s final.

Conclusion

In conclusion to this report, I have given the facts and history behind two of darts greatest
organisations and rivals and discussed the main points behind the split in the darts that
ultimately changed darts for good. The purpose of this report was to write about the history of
the sport and decide whether the split in the darts was the best outcome for the sport. I believe
that this report has clearly stated that the split in darts was the best thing for the sport and has
taken it to where it is just now as one of the most watched sports on TV. However, I do
believe that it was not solely down to the takeover by the PDC that got darts to where it is
today as I believe that the input between the sponsors of the sport, the players and in my
opinion Sky Sports helped alongside the PDC in resurrecting the sport from the dark place it
was in under the British Darts Organisation.

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References

Google Search for “British Darts Organisation History”

(1)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Darts_Organisation#British_Professional_Cha
mpionship
Accessed on the 25/04/16
(2)http://www.bdodarts.com/
Accessed on the 25/04/16
(3)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_in_darts
Accessed on the 25/04/16
(4)http://www.pdc.tv/history
Accessed on the 25/04/16

Google Search for “Darts History”

(5)http://www.darts501.com/History.html
Accessed on the 25/04/2016
(6)http://www.britainexpress.com/History/pastimes/darts.htm
Written by David Ross and Accessed on 25/04/16
(7)https://www.pdpa.co.uk/statistics/history/
Accessed on the 25/04/2016

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