CNN
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Combining stunning precision, intense drama and a raucous costume party, darts quickly positioned itself as one of the most captivating sports on the planet.
Made popular in English pubs in the 19th and 20th centuries, it has since evolved into a sporting spectacle that attracts fans from around the world and provides its best players with lucrative careers.
This year’s World Darts Championships ended on Friday when teenage sensation Luke Littler won his first world championship against three-time winner Michael van Gerwen, becoming the youngest champion in history. Once again, the tournament proved to be a huge success in several parts of the world, with the 17-year-old champion becoming a pop culture icon in the UK.
But while an estimated 17 million Americans currently play the sport, darts has yet to break through the already crowded U.S. sports market, and many people still think of it as just another bar game.
Those who run the sport hope that will change, however, and have big plans for 2025 and beyond.
Eddie Hearn is a name many Americans might recognize, but for a different sport. The Englishman is one of the most prominent boxing promoters in the world and regularly participates in organizing the biggest fights.
But Hearn is also chairman of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), an organization which organizes the largest darts tournament in the world, involving the best players.
It is already present in the United States and has proven popular. Earlier this year, the US Masters event sold out the theater at Madison Square Garden. Hearn expects it to sell even faster next year.
“I know the (American) sporting public and I know they would enjoy the experience, atmosphere and culture of a live darts event,” Hearn said. CNN Sportsadding that darts could be as big, if not bigger, than boxing in America.
“Now we’re starting to look very carefully at the US market, to the point where we’re going to create not only more events, but also infrastructure, in terms of growing the grassroots and participation levels in professional football.
“The plan would be to hold three to four global events in America as part of the PDC Tour global calendar.”
Hearn is fully aware that darts can initially be a difficult sell to those who don’t understand their true magnitude.
For example, critics still question whether it can be considered a real sport given that players are not always in the greatest athletic shape and historically drink and smoke during professional matches.
But this tired stereotype stands in stark contrast to the unparalleled theater that a professional darts tournament can provide, as players remain ruthlessly precise under the most incredible pressure, resulting in titanic battles that have boosted the sport’s popularity in recent years. recent years.
If people still need convincing, Hearn says the best thing to do is get them to watch.
“It’s just about getting exposure in America and breaking through. We can’t believe how quickly these tickets are selling out in the UK. It’s just the ultimate night out, fancy dress (costumes), a few beers, live sport. It’s a very good product,” he said.
“Once the United States starts witnessing the drama and atmosphere, it will be everywhere.”
While Hearn looks after the wider promotion of the sport, it is up to people like Matthew Porter, managing director of PDC, to manage the day-to-day growth.
Porter has held the position since 2008 and has overseen a huge shift in how the game is perceived.
“What we’ve been able to do over the last couple of decades is expand into territories where darts was well known anyway, but at a different level,” Porter told CNN.
“You can take a dartboard anywhere in the world and most people will recognize it. Most people have thrown a dart, whether at a funfair, in a pub or at home.
“So educating people about what darts is isn’t really the challenge. The challenge is to re-educate them to move the sport from an amateur participation sport to a professional audience-oriented sport.
By the simple law of averages, Porter says there should be several players in the United States who have the potential to play at a world-class level and now it’s a matter of providing them a pathway to help them get become professionals.
To do this, the PDC supports the Championship Darts Corporation (CDC), a company that organizes a darts tour in North America.
Peter Citera is CEO and Tournament Director for the CDC and insists there are already a large number of passionate darts aficionados in the North American market.
Canada, for example, has already produced a world champion, with John Part winning the PDC World Championships twice (2003 and 2008).
Citera now wants to find the new part and is confident that darts can position itself as the biggest alternative to the region’s more traditional leagues, located just below the NFL, NBA, MLB And NHL.
During his 11 years at the CDC, Citera has seen the quality of the game increase and, in partnership with the PDC, is now talking with broadcasters to take the sport to the next level.
“We are coming,” Citera told CNN Sport. “Our goal is to find the next North American world champion.
“We are working really hard to find the next world champion and it will happen. You’re going to start to see North Americans establish themselves more deeply on the world stage and all it takes is this one to catch fire.”
It’s impossible to analyze the growth of darts without mentioning Luke “The Nuke” Littler.
The teenage sensation burst onto the scene at last year’s World Championship, reaching the final when he was just 16 and becoming the youngest finalist in history.
The English teenager continued his momentum this season, becoming the youngest world champion in history at 17, helping to further strengthen the reputation of the sport.
Hearn, Porter and Citera all refer to the “Luke Littler effect” when talking about the growth of darts over the past year and all agree that a US equivalent would be the golden egg in their quest to establish darts in the North American psyche.
Three North American players made the first round of this year’s world championships, after qualifying through the CDC.
American Stowe Buntz and Canadian Jim Long were both eliminated in the first round, while American Leonard Gates won his first match before losing in the second round.
Gates notably proved popular with the audience at Alexandra Palace, dancing on stage as he performed at this year’s tournament.
Speaking to CNN, he admits he never thought he could make a living from gambling, having first picked up a dartboard while hanging out with friends at the bar.
After discovering the sport by accident, Gates fell in love and began playing every day. He now makes his living mainly from gaming, balancing his sporting career with a small part-time job.
When asked why he thinks more Americans aren’t pursuing careers in professional darts, Gates told CNN that it’s about changing perceptions, particularly among younger generations – an audience targeted by the CDC through its junior tour.
“I heard all the time when I played darts that you couldn’t make a living playing darts,” Gates said. “I never imagined I would make a living.”
“You have to have that dedication to say, ‘OK, this is what I want to do,’ and take the appropriate steps to get there.” You will benefit from it.
“I now see some young people (in the United States) who have taken up the sport and come here to England. They can build from this, whether they stick with it or not remains to be seen.