Darts, Beers, & Cheers!

Archive for the ‘Sponsorships’ Category

Darts, Beers & Cheers! Brings you The Thunder! Par Riihonen

Par Riihonen – sponsorship opportunity

As part of my attempts to help players in the PDC, I was pleased to hear from the manager of Par Riihonen, also known as “The Thunder”.

You can find more info on Par on his website here, including image gallerys of Par playing across Europe.

Like many talented players in the PDC, Par’s game would benefit from a sponsor taking some of the financial pressure off him while he works his way up the world rankings and fights for a tour card for next year’s pro tour (when the rewards will be even greater for those in the top 96 who attain a tour card, or qualify through other means).

Par is currently 27th in the European order of merit, and I’ve seen many good reports about him on the darts forums (where hard core darts fans who know their stuff chat darts).

Par also has to make twice the effort of many darts pros on the tour, as he travels over from his native Sweden.  If someone out there could recognise that sort of dedication and help him cover the £200 a weekend entry fees and travel, I’m sure Par can reward you with improved results, invite(s) as his guest along to the behind closed doors tour events, and a deal  you will both be happy with.

If you feel that your company would enjoy the mutual benefit of putting your companies name on Par’s shirt (along with the other benefits that come from player sponsorship), please get in touch with Craig Wilson, Par’s manager.

Par plays in this weekends PDC Pro tour event in Crawley – and I wish him the best of luck!  I’ll hopefully get to watch him play (and win), and maybe say hello.

Par Riihonen - looking for a sponsor

Darts ace Dave Ladley is facing pro ‘heartbreak’ – Lets try and help him!

Dave Ladley (middle), fighting to get the help he needs to earn his tour card for 2011

UPDATE: There’s a growing facebook group here – where Dave Holland is organising the appeal for Ladders.  Dennis Priestly has kindly donated one of his actual match worn shirts, signed specially – which is being auctioned via the group… and Jamie Caven has also donated a set of his darts with a signed darts case.

I wrote a little while ago about my mate and friend to this site Dave ‘Ladders’ Ladley – he’s shared many funny and informative write-ups of what it’s like to be a pro on the PDC tour.

Well Dave is facing a tough decision… he needs more ranking points in the remaining player championships to ensure he makes the top 96 players in the PDC, so he will get his ‘tour card’ for next year.  The tour card is being introduced in 2011  and it will benefit those who qualify, giving them better shots and chances to make money on the tour.

The trouble is that Dave lost his main sponsor through no fault of his own, and now needs a sponsor (or sponsors) to come forward to help him ensure he can play in the remaining qualifiers of 2010, and then hopefully get those couple of places he needs to qualify for the tour card (Dave is 98th in line.. and needs to be at least 96th!).

With 13 events of the darts season still to be played there is still an awful lot of chopping and changing possible in those rankings, so Dave knows he has work to do…

I work very, very hard and I’m always trying to improve my game. To think I couldn’t carry on would be heartbreaking.  Gaining the Pro Tour Card is my number one goal and ambition at this present minute - Dave ‘Ladders’ Ladley.

I know I would be gutted for him and this website would lose out on a great source of stories from the tour (and some great photos!).

Dave has come up with a rescue solution, as he’s a bright lad!  “I would like to see if there are any companies or individuals in the area who would be interested in sponsoring me for the remainder of the year either as a consortium or an individual, with all of my winning prize funds for the remainder of 2010 going either back to the sponsor or to a nominated charity. If pubs or clubs are interested in having a darts exhibition night then I can provide this which will help me try and raise funds to carry on playing on the PDC circuit.”

Anybody that can help Ladders should contact him on 07827 292133 or via email at daviedarts@hotmail.com

Sponsoring professional darts players – Dave Ladley

I am starting a new series of articles in the hope of attracting new sponsors for the cream of up n coming darts professionals.  I would like to start by promoting a good friend to Darts, Beers & Cheers! – Dave ‘Ladders’ Ladley.  More about him in a bit…

Why do the players need sponsorship?

Unlike many professional sports, Darts pros on the PDC tour have to pay an entrance fee to take part in their ‘coal face’ events.  Those events take place throughout the year, two events a weekend, spread across the UK and also Europe (Holland, Austria and Germany), and even Las Vegas USA!  Entry fees alone come to some £4,000, and on top of that there’s travel and hotel accommodation.   Estimates put taking part in a full year coming to approx £12,000-£20,000!

By entering and winning money at those events, a darts pro earns ranking points, and the higher the ranking, the better TV tournaments they can enter.  Top prizes in TV events can rise to £200,000 for the World Championships!  There is some £5,000,000+ in total prize money within the PDC tour now.  Therefore you can see darts as a high risk, high reward sport – if you have the skill, determination, and BACKING (i.e. cash sponsorship), there may be no limit to your earnings potential and TV exposure.

What’s in it for me/my company?

If you are reading this and are looking to invest a relatively small amount of capital into a professional sportsman (and we are not talking pro golfer/footballer levels here!), then you should think about buying sponsorship of a professional in the PDC pro tour.  Darts is a sport which is on the up, regaining the TV coverage levels that it enjoyed in it’s prime.  Unlike many other sports, darts players who make TV events such at the World Championships can enjoy very prominent camera time (min 30 minutes – to many hours), where some 30% of the time YOUR ADVERT/PATCH will be in full view of the cameras (the players are hardly running around, so the text stays in focus for views to read).  Darts professionals are allowed to display up to 4 ‘patches’ on their shirts.

Standard sponsorship of a darts pro usually includes a clawback of a % of the players winnings, so any player benefiting and improving through your help will be able to put money back into your pocket – a win win for both of you.

Also if you are a darts fan (and these days, fans include England crickets, footballers, and TV stars such as Stephen Fry, even our Prime Minister!), players often invite their sponsors along to money can’t buy NON PUBLIC events, or to VIP areas of big TV events, so you could be rubbing shoulders with any number of stars.

Dave Ladley in Vegas

Why sponsor Dave Ladley?

Dave Ladley is a player on the cusp, who is totally dedicated to improving his game.  I’ve met Dave on many occasions, and am always impressed with his focus, intelligent analysis of the sport and psychology of sport, and of course his darts ability.   ‘Ladders’ as he is nicknamed also has a great rapport with darts fans, writing for this website, and taking an active part in other darts forums (such as ‘The Stars of Darts’).

With your companies logo/patch on his shirt, I’m sure Dave would do you proud at the many darts events he plays as your sponsored player.  As I’ve seen with other players, You can see examples of write-ups he has submitted for me here.

I’m interested, how do I have a chat about this?

Dave Ladley is looked after by the darts management team at “Dave Holland Management”.  You can just drop Dave Holland a line HERE, visit their website and get in touch there, or just use the contact form here and I will pass on your details and interest.

If you are a darts pro looking for a small feature such as this, please do get in touch with me (Krispy), and I will be happy to help.