Darts, Beers, & Cheers!

Archive for the ‘Darts general’ Category

Wes Newton darts shirt auction – for Dave Ladley appeal

Get over to Facebook to have a chance at buying a geniune Wes Newton shirt (and signed photo)

There’s been some great darts memorabilia being auctioned for the “Dave Ladley appeal”… and a really special item has just gone up on Dave Hollands wall today (Dave is organising the appeal on Facebook).

A geniune Wes Newton darts shirt, not a copy or shop item, but one worn and donated by Wes himself to the appeal.  As the shirt is black, Wes signed a photo of himself to go along with it.

So if you fancy putting a bid on the shirt, get over to Dave Holland’s profile page – or view the Dave Ladley appeal page.  Dave ‘Ladders’ Ladley writes for this website, and is a great bloke and darts pro, who needs to raise the money to complete this year’s pro tour.

The appeal started as a request for Dave’s friends on Facebook to give £1… and has gone fantastically well.  Darts pro’s have come forward to donate some great memorabilia – such as Jamie Caven darts, Chris Thompson darts, and a signed shirt from Denis Ovens.

UPDATE:  The one and only Aaron Monk joined the bidding for the Wes Newton shirt – and it’s now up to £90 (not Aaron’s bid!) – so it’s going well – I believe bidding ends 9pm Thursday night (12th Aug).

Darts and TV audiences – the UK’s biggest indoor sport!

It’s a great time be be a darts fan – after a real lull in the televised game in the 90′s, it’s really come into its own again.  Love them or hate them, Sky Sports really lit the blue touch paper when it came to darts, bringing a new high glitz, professionally packaged product to the sports mad public.  Their 15 week premier league has been a real exhibition of darts – a showcase event which brings in a wedge of cash to the PDC coffers, allowing them to fund the richest darts tour of all time.

ITV have got back into darts in recent years, showing the Grand Slam of Darts (which gets some great viewing figures off on ITV4), and has won many plaudits for its great coverage (not quite as full on as Sky’s effort, but possibly a touch more informative with better and more frequent interviews).  I’d put the Sky spotter & camermen 1st though – they hardly ever miss a single dart or where it’s thrown.

Recently Bravo have got in on the act, and I know they are very happy with the viewing figures they received – I believe the final day nearly trippled their normal Sunday viewing figures, and probably brought in new viewers for the first time.  Bravo would make a good home for darts, as it’s targetted more towards the beer drinking lads who like motors, beer, girls.. and that’s most darts fans!

Some people may not realise that darts is the biggest indoor sport in the UK, and when you’re getting 10,000+ people in the audience for the Premier League (nearly filling the O2 Arena!) you’ve got to realise the sport is getting BIG!  Every PDC tournament seems to break previous records for ticket sales, and TV audiences continue to grow.

Just looking at the PDC World match play viewing figures on Sky, you can see what a draw it is, and that it’s pulling in more viewers than the golf or the cricket.

Sky Sports 1  w/e 25 Jul 2010

1 LIVE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS FINAL (SUN 1900) 466,000
2 LIVE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS (SAT 1900) 254,000
3 LIVE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS (WED 1900) 217,000
4 LIVE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS (FRI 1900) 208,000
5 LIVE PAK V AUS CRICKET (FRI 1319) 200,000
6 LIVE PAK V AUS CRICKET (FRI 1535) 199,000
7 LIVE PAK V AUS CRICKET (SAT 1000) 179,000
8 LIVE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS (THU 1900) 178,000
9 LIVE PAK V AUS CRICKET (THU 1316) 177,000
10 LIVE WORLD MATCHPLAY DARTS (TUE 1900) 168,000

(OK lets throw some premier league footy in the mix.. now this is end of season super sunday.. after the closest premier league in many a year;1 LIVE FORD SUPER SUNDAY – MATCH (SUN 1530) 1,568,000 – so OK a million more viewers.. but I’d say for the darts to have a 3rd of that is pretty impressive stuff, especially when you think how much the prem league is pushed and advertised on every channel every day of every week!).

Now lets look at Bravo’s figures – for their first ever televised darts;

BRAVO TV – week ending 1st August.

1 SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND S01 (TUE 2200) 572,000
2 LEVERAGE (WED 2101) 250,000
3 EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP (SUN 1900) 232,000
4 EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP (SAT 1900) 179,000
5 EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP (SUN 1300) 140,000
6 EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP (FRI 1900) 133,000
7 EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP (THU 1900) 109,000
8 SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND S01 (FRI 2401) 106,000
9 SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND S01 (MON 2301) 93,000
10 EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP (SAT 1300 87,000

Now you’ve got to remember that Bravo is a smaller channel, with a much smaller advertising budget, and the European Championships aren’t quite the established draw of the World Match Play in Blackpool.  But the viewing figures for the final of 232,000 is massive for them – and I know they are very pleased, possibly looking to cover more darts in the future.

The BIG viewing figures still go to the BBC and their coverage of the BDO’s world championships of course – some three million people watched the final at the Lakeside.  That figure is lower than it used to be, as I feel the BBC hardly package the darts in a view friendly way (lots of it recorded and edited down to highlights.. or hidden on the red button).  But that’s still a large number of people seeing the darts on their TVs – and it can only be healthy to have the arrows on terrestrial TV too!

TV Records For World Matchplay – darts a big draw

I’ve just seen on pdc.tv that they have the viewing figures in from Sky for the World Match Play final – and it shows the sport is in a very healthy position.  Some people might not know that darts is now the no.1 watched indoor sport, and no.2 watched sport (average numbers per broadcast) on Sky Sports!!  Yep that’s right, more people watch a darts match than a rugby/golf tournament.  Get in there!

The WMP tournament, won by Phil Taylor at the Winter Gardens for an 11th time on Sunday night, saw Sky Sports’ live coverage accompanied by the first broadcasts of darts in 3D in over 1,000 pubs across the UK and Ireland.

Away from the 3D coverage, audiences watching on Sky Sports throughout the event were a record for the World Matchplay, which began in 1994.

Sunday’s final saw an average of 468,000 viewers, which peaked at 606,000 viewers during the clash between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld.

Coverage of the World Matchplay was also shown live in Holland, Germany and Australia, with German broadcasters Sport1 enjoying huge audiences ahead of their screening of the PartyPoker.net European Championship.

Sport1 averaged over 250,000 viewers throughout the tournament, with the final matching the success of Sky Sports’ coverage in averaging 400,000 and peaking at 670,000 fans.

Sport1 will be screening the European Championship in Germany, while Bravo will show the event live in the UK from Thursday July 29 to Sunday August 1.

Bravo can be found at channel 123 on Sky and 136 on Virgin Media.

2011 PDC ProTour Details – the tour card is here

In a bit of a shake up the PDC WILL bring in it’s tour card concept for 2011.  The tour card will limit and control numbers at the main UK PDC Player championship events, and should mean more money for those pro’s involved.

The tour card is here

PRIZE MONEY for PDC ProTour events in 2011 will increase to £35,000 per event, with more money for those getting through to the top 32/16, and the last 4.  The Professional Darts Corporation will adopt a Tour Card system from next year, with automatic entry to Players Championship events in the UK open only to Tour Card holders.

Tour Cards will be awarded to the top 96 players from the PDC Order of Merit, with a further eight invitational Tour Cards being offered alongside 16 places for successful players from the Qualifying School, which will be held from January 13-16 at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan.

Players who reach the last 16 of the PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship and PDC Unicorn Women’s World Championship will receive free entry to the Qualifying School, although should they win a Tour Card then they must pay the full PDPA membership fee.

The following players will be eligible for Tour Cards:

Top 96 full PDPA members from the PDC Order of Merit (having competed in at least ten events which are counted on the PDC Order of Merit during the preceding two years) as of January 4 2011.
4 x semi-finalists from the 2011 Lakeside Championship
2 x finalists from the 2011 PDC Unicorn Under-21 World 21 Championship
2 x finalists from the 2010 PDC Unicorn Women’s World Championship
16 x players who progress from 2011 Qualifying School

The prize fund breakdown for a pro-tour event will be:
Winner: £6,000
Runner-Up: £3,000
Semi-Finalists: £2,000
Quarter-Finalists: £1,000
Last 16 Losers: £600
Last 32 Losers: £400
Last 64 Losers: £200

A qualifying event will be held on either Friday night or Saturday morning, at the PDC’s discretion, for players to win one of a minimum of eight places in each Players Championship.  (that means that you can turn up and try to get in if you’re not a tour card holder, but it’s a gamble)

UK Open Qualifiers are open to all PDPA members, with the events to be held across four double-header weekends.
The UK Open qualification criteria in 2011 will be amended to determine that players need to compete in two Qualifiers plus attain the requisite prize money to earn a spot in the top 96 of the UK Open Order of Merit.

Amazing dartboard being auctioned for Charity

Front of the 9-darter board with signatures proudly displayed - you can own this! (click for larger image)

I have heard of a very worthwhile charity darts auction, with an amazing piece of darting memorabilia up for sale, which has a special story behind it.

I’ll Darren tell you about this in his own words;

“One of the volunteer markers from the stars of darts site “The Hitman” has been a very good friend of mine for a number of years and for the last couple of weekend tournaments Gary has been coming back telling me what a great time he has had and what great people he has met.

I have a son who is almost seven years old who is Down’s Syndrome and attends a local special school, Springfield School in Crewe and I am involved in raising funds for the school.  Since Gary started marking at the events he has promised me that anything he gets signed he would pass onto me to auction for the school.

I would obviously be extremely grateful for anything he could get for me but I was given a massive surprise on 9th May. On the Sunday evening the Hitman (or the Pulse as some people know him !!)  sent me a text saying he had something for me so I went to meet him for a couple of pints. He handed me a boxed board which in all honesty I did not at first pay much attention to!

He urged me to take a look and imagine my shock when he handed me the actual board that Co Stompe hit his 9 dart finish on at Robin Park. This item is a true one off in terms of darts memorabilia and something that I am sure the Hitman would have liked to have kept for himself but true to his work he passed this on to me.

Back of board with Rod Harrington authentication (click for larger)

This was not only signed by Co Stompe and Vincent van Der Voort but was authenticated on the back by Rod Harrington and Tommy Cox.

After some deliberation this board is now being auctioned on one of the threads on www.starsofdarts.com .  The current highest bid is £250 with all the proceeds going to Springfield School.”

As you can see by the pictures, this really is an amazing ‘one off’ piece of darting history; an official PDC (used) board, on which Co Stompe hit a 9 darter on the pro tour in Wigan.

It is signed by both players, and authenticated by Rod Harrington and Tommy Cox.  I’m sure any darts fan, serious collector, or pub/club would love to add this to their collection!

The money raised is going to a very worthwhile cause – and Darren would welcome any other items of memorabilia – if you use the contact page to let me know if you would like to contribute something, I’ll pass on your details.

Get yourself over to The Stars of Darts forum to place a bid in the thread.

Two great schemes at The Starts of Darts Forum – Pro Markers and Player Sponsorship

I thought I’d mention the two great schemes being run from “The Stars of Darts” forum, one of which I’ve mentioned before, the ‘Player Sponsorship Scheme‘, is a way for anyone to buy a (or more than one) £25 share in the sponsorship of a professional darts player. The second scheme I’ve not told you about before this the ‘Volunteer pro tour markers scheme‘, where you can volunteer to actually mark professional players games on the pro tour!  Both schemes are organised by Dave ‘Spaceman’ Ahmet over on the Stars of Darts forum.  He’s a darts pro himself, who puts a lot of his time into helping run the Stars of Darts forum, and helping put something back into the darts scene (and some would say something into the tills of many pubs and clubs in the tour towns!).

"The Stars of Darts" - forum and home of several fan schemes

Player Sponsorship Scheme

The player sponsorship scheme is all about fans helping an upcoming darts pro (or an established one who is looking for much needed sponsorship to take them to the next level).  The PDC pro tour is an expensive sport to take part in; two tournaments each weekend costing £100 each to enter, plus hotels and travel to the event.  If a player goes out early, they aren’t even going to make their entrance fee back, let alone all the other expenses.  If the player wins the event, they are taking home most of a £6,000 wedge!

Therefore it is often the case that it’s hard for a player to be able to enter enough events to get enough ranking points to qualify for the big TV tournaments (where there is a lot more cash prizes on offer!).  Once a player has ‘made it’ into the top 16, they are making more than enough money to fund themselves – so for someone with the skill, it’s often just that initial help they need to make it into the big league.

Steve Grubb receiving his sponsorship from Dave & TSoD forum.

That’s where there player sponsorship scheme comes in!   Each ‘fan’ buys £25 shares in the scheme (from 1 to 12 shares maximum to stop someone having too much influence in the voting).  Then once a target amount is reached (over £3,000 is ideal), those share holders discuss and vote for players who have put their names forward to be considered. No player with over £5,000 sponsorship already, or within the top 16 will be included, as they have had their break already.  The voting may go on for several rounds, until a player is chosen, and awarded the sponsorship money.

As the player wins money on the tour (and in TV events hopefully!), they put back a small % into the scheme, so if we pick well, it might be the case we get a lot of the investment back, which can be used to re-invest in another player.  The players also wear a “The Stars of Darts” advert patch, which will hopefully push more potential sponsors back to the scheme, plus it gives a great warm fuzzy feeling when you see YOUR player standing up on the oche in a TV tournament.  Imagine how it feels to watch and root for a player you have a share in – something more than just having a sly bet!  Voting for the next player starts end of May, so sign up quick if you want to take part!

Pro Tour Marking – volunteer scheme

A lot of people might not realise that the pro’s themselves have to mark at the tour events (there are 16 boards, and there aren’t many professional markers – they are saved for the semi-final and finals!).  Losing players have to mark for other players, which can’t be an easy thing to do when you’re feeling cr@p!

A scheme was born to help the players, so they don’t have to mark as much, letting them concentrate on their game.  That’s where the Pro tour marking volunteer scheme comes in.  YOU can volunteer to take part in darts on the coal face – by volunteering to be a marker!  By volunteering, you get close up and person at floor events where the public are not normally allowed.  Imagine scoring for Phil Taylor vs. Mervyn King for example – where it’s just YOU and the players.  The players are very keen to have volunteers mark their games, and really do appreciate it.  Obviously you need to have marked before – unless you really are confident on your maths!  The players understand you’re giving up your own time to help them out, so are usually very patient with the odd mistake.  It’s been known for the markers to be given a signed board after a 9 darter (imagine marking one of those!!).

The position of volunteer marker is unpaid (hence the volunteer status), but most people who have done it have all agreed that it’s well worth it, to be in that unique position with the best darts players in the world.  There are things going on to see if the PDC can somehow give something back to the markers (t-shirts, free tickets to tv events etc) – but most people would give their right arm to be able to volunteer

If you’re interested in either or both of the schemes, please get yourself over to “The Stars of Darts” forum – a very friendly and darts savvy forum (quite a few pros are members – including all those who are up for the sponsorship).  There are forum sections for each of the schemes – get yourself registered and say hello (and message ‘spaceman’ and let him know you want to take part).

The Wrong bed – Darting Podcasts and post match interviews

The wrong bed, darts podcast, it's funny!

I thought I’d write about some cracking darts podcasts – “The Wrong Bed”, a series of amusing and informative recordings from darting journalists (and big fans), Phil “The Crack” McCrackin, and Justin ‘Bachelor of darts’ Irwin.

The Wrong bed podcasts can be found here – I’m hoping series two comes soon    You can subscribe to the podcasts on iTunes to have them served up to your mp3 playing device.  I loved the final ‘episode’, where they take you to a virtual darts award ceremony, The Bounce out awards; very funny.

Post Aberdeen Prem League Interviews

Also – if you fancy hearing more from the premier league playesr after their games in Aberdeen (including Ronnie Baxters’ take on the booing against Lewis), check out Phil McCrackin’s post game interivews with the players (lucky sod gets to go backstage to the prem league). You can hear Phil on Rockradio.co.uk at the weekends – wake up with the Crack!

• Listen to Ronnie Baxter interview
• Listen to Phil Taylor (During the end of the above interview Phil descibes the final 3 darts of the 9 Darter)
• Listen to the 9 darter interview
• Listen to Simon Whitlock interview
• Listen to Adrian Lewis interview

Capital Arrows – pubs with dart boards in London!

If you are looking to play darts in a central London pub you’ve come to the right place. Within these pages are details of 100 pubs in and around Zone 1 London where a dart board can be found. - Justin Irwin, the Bachelor of darts

While I’m telling you about stuff (you lucky people ), another project of Justin Irwin is his ‘Capital Arrows‘ page – where he is buildig up a database of pubs within London, WHICH HAVE A DARTS BOARD.  Simple yet a great idea.  Check out his work so far here.  You can e-mail him with more that he may have missed, to help other darts mad punters find pubs to have a throw in.

Player sponsorship scheme at Superstars of Darts

I wanted to write (AGAIN) about a really worthwhile scheme over on the The Stars of Darts Forum (friends of Darts, Beers & Cheers).  They still need a few more people to join the scheme to raise the required amount of money before the voting can start – you can be part of that…

Have you ever wanted to be part of a professional  sport but were not good enough to actually take part seriously yourself? Yep me too!   Love darts? Yep me too!  Want to feel that bit closer to the players, and the events they take part in? Yep me too!   Have you heard the catchphrase one of the betting websites uses; “It means more when there’s money on it?“, of course you have!

So – imagine how you’d feel if you were part of a small exclusive group who sponsored a professional darts pro?

Unless you’ve got a wad of cash yourself (and your Mrs doesn’t mind if you spend it on your hobby), then you like most people couldn’t afford to pay the cash to sponsor a darts pro yourself – but through a group scheme at the Superstars of Darts, you can do just that, from as little as £25! (easier to hide from the Mrs I’m sure you’ll agree!).

Why do players need sponsorship?

Steve Grubb receiving his sponsorship from Dave Ahmet on behalf of the Superstars of Darts members.

Great question!  Well I won’t claim to be a total expert, BUT: each PDC pro tour event costs £100 entry… and double that each weekend, as there are usually two events each of the weekends when there is something on.  Add into that travel, hotel rooms, and food/drink, and you can see it’s an expensive sport to take part in, especially if you’re a new pro, trying to make your way up the rankings, where you may win £50 over the weekend if you’re lucky – and so end up well out of pocket.  But each event is more experience, and if the player has the right stuff, they will slowly start getting into the black as the weeks go by.

So a few thousand quid sponsorship gets such a player into most  of the tour events they need to play in to get up the rankings, gain the experience, and who knows what else!?

What to do if you fancying being part of the group player sponsorship

The group of members at Superstars of Darts have already sponsored two players over the last year or so;  Originally Tony ‘the viper’ Eccles, and more recently Steve ‘Grubby’ Grubb.  To join the scheme you can purchase ‘shares’ at £25, which give you voting rights to help decide which player will be sponsored next.  You need to register as a member of SoD (here), and then view the details of the ‘Player sponsorship’ thread (it’s as simple as having a registered username and sending your cash via Paypal to the administrator).

The groups initial target is: £3,000 ++

Shares sold to reach target : 120 (to reach £3000)

To purchase a share is just £25. You can own just one share or up to 12 in total. Each share will entitle you to a vote as to which player ultimately receives the sponsorship. Therefore if you own 5 shares – you get 5 votes! The limit stops any one individual having too much influence over the groups decision.

If we raise over £3,000 – a portion of TV winnings is paid back into our funds.

Your funds go towards supporting a player on the PDC PRO TOUR and the chosen player will wear a thestarsofdarts.com badge to recognise our support. You will get special status at SoD (Player Sponsor Member) and have access to our members’ forum. You also have the personal pride of knowing that you are the part sponsor of a player on the PDC tour!

The sponsored players also post regularly on the forum, often giving us a unique angle on the life of a darts pro, and sometimes there’s even more benefits.. for you to find out!

Oh and before you ask – I’ve signed up!     So get over to The Stars of Darts, sign-up, and visit the ‘Player Sponsorship’ section to ask questions.

WE LOVE DARTS – 2nd Gala Casino Bristol Darts Open

Amanda at ‘We Love Darts’ magazine sent me details of an darts tournament they are running on the 15th May. It’s a an Open Tournament  (that means open to anyone!) with cash prizes and a great day of darts entertainment.

The event is at the Gala Casino in Bristol, on the 15th May, and has a guaranteed prize fund of £1,000.  You can download a PDF with details HERE.

We Love Darts Magazine

GENTS: £10 ENTRY
£500 FIRST PRIZE
£250 RUNNER UP
£100 SEMI-FINALIST
MEAL FOR TWO – 1/4 FINALIST

LADIES £5 ENTRY
£100 FIRST PRIZE
£50 RUNNER UP
MEAL FOR TWO – SEMI-FINALIST

Register in advance on 0844 8484 501 or pay on the day

• Over 18’s Only, Under 21’s should bring photographic ID •
• 12pm Start – register on the day between 10 & 11.45am •
• *Free Parking available on level 2 in the Gala Casino car park

Get a personally dedicated copy of John Lowe’s “The Art of Darts”

Have a copy of John's book signed for you

I thought I’d pass on a great offer from the darting Legend who is John Lowe;

If you wish purchase my book ‘The Art of Darts’, go to paypal send £12 (if your are living in the UK), or £16 (if you are overseas), to jloweprodart@aol.com. Make sure you leave your name, postal address, and any message you require.   I will do the rest. – John Lowe.

Some info on the book itself; Can’t hit the doubles? Got a bad case of dartitis? Want to stick it in the bull every time? You’ve come to the right place. THE ART OF DARTS is three-time World Champion John Lowe’s darts master class that caters for every level of player, from the obsessed amateur to the fledgling professional, and reveals the secrets of his three decades experience at the pinnacle of the sport. Every conceivable aspect of the game is covered, from choosing the right grip, darts and practice routines to suit you, constructing out shots, perfecting your stance at the oche to tips on how to cope with the pressure of a sold out, noisy arena in your first professional match. Whether you want to improve your game wholesale or simply fine tune some misbehaving aspects, THE ART OF DARTS is essential for every darts player, fan or enthusiast and is well set to becoming the classic darts text.

Now that’s far more special than picking a copy up from a bookshop – a copy dedicated to you (or a friend / family member -what a great present for any darts mad person you know!), and only 12 notes – which includes postage.  You’d be mad not to!

Please note: Darts, Beers & Cheers (and myself Krispy) have no link to this offer – I am just passing on John Lowe’s kind offer to personalise a copy of his book for you.  Please don’t contact me regarding buying the book