How important is the growth of darts?
The vast majority of our sponsors are from the betting industry and that’s something that we look to preserve and develop. We’ve got strong relationships with a lot of leading bookmakers, not just in the UK but in Germany, Australia and other important territories for us as well. So we always look to make sure that we can work with the bookmaker rather than just impose ourselves on them we want to see what they can get out of our products and how we can grow and develop relationships together.
How much are you looking forward to 2019?
Yeah, we’ve come out with our 2019 calendar. We’re going to have almost 250 event days by the time it’s finalised. Darts is growing worldwide, we’ve got events in around twenty countries next year. We’ve got relational tours. We’ve got a three-tier tour structure for the professional players. And there’s a pathway now for people to become world darts champion right from the day they first pick up a dart for the first time as Rob Cross proved when he won the world championship back in January a year after being a full time electrician.
How important is it to see what other companies are doing?
I think benchmarking and best practice is really important. A few years ago, people were may a little more guarded about what they were doing, whereas now people understand that really we’re not necessarily in competition with each other, we should be working together for the greater good of the viewing public looking to involve themselves in our sports.
What makes Betting on Sports stand out to you?
I think it’s fantastic to see the whole industry under one roof. You’ve got software providers, operators, rights holders, people from the media. There’s the whole world of sports and betting coming together in one place. It’s a great opportunity for people from the industry.
What makes this event stand out so much?
I think it’s that global appeal, the fact that you’ve got so many brands here who operate some behind the scenes as well as public facing. It’s a chance for people to come together, discuss new ideas, see where the industry’s going and work out what might be best for their business.
What does it give the PDC the opportunity to do?
I think the main thing for us is to see the landscape, see where things lie in different markets, see what people might be doing next. See what we’re doing well and what maybe we can do better. And also get our message out there and make people understand what the PDC and what professional darts is all about.
