Darts may take over from soccer as Britain’s No1 sport, prime bookmaker says
EXCLUSIVE: Paddy Power chiefs suggest football has become ‘incredibly boring’ and darts is ‘better viewing’ as the Ally Pally World Darts Championship was viewed in record numbers
Darts could take over from football as Britain’s No1 sport, according to top bookmaker Paddy Power.
Bosses of the Irish firm – the main sponsor of the world darts championship – have been blown away by the drama, intensity and scale of global interest in the tournament, sources say. Brit Luke Littler landed the sport’s first ever £1m cash prize after winning Saturday night’s final to lift the trophy for the second year in a row aged just 18.
But his victory was just part of the drama over the past fortnight with big stars have crashing out, unknowns shooting to against-all-odds victories, players falling out, having emotional meltdowns, smashing hands on tables and blasting the crazy crowd.
And that is without an invasion of fanatical Germans fans and the Ally Pally wasp which buzzed the sport’s top stars including Littler in the final – and was even hit by a dart.
Paddy Power’s official X account tweeted: “Riddle me this – has football become incredibly boring or is the darts just better viewing?” It comes after a recent study showed darts is now the fastest growing sport in the UK.
Research by Butlin’s Big Weekenders revealed 23 million Brits – 35% of the population – are more interested in darts now than they were two years ago before Littler shot to stardom.
Around 50 million Brits say they have played the game at least once. While the FA say 15.7m regularly play football, darts leagues are flourishing with coaches in high demand.
Paddy Power’s tweet sparked an intense online debate with most fans appearing to side with darts as the new national sport.
One wrote: “Sport-by-data is ruining a few sports. Rugby league in the UK has also become too clinical. Darts & snooker seem to have avoided this.”
Another said: “Football is on a slippery slope…way too tactical, too soft, too unsure in terms of offside/VAR and don’t get me started on whether to celebrate a goal or not!”
“Became boring when rolling around and hitting your hand on the floor like a spoilt child became more important than a decent tackle,” added another.
One more darts fan said: “Stop watching football ages ago. Can’t be doing with some wet wipe rolling about on the floor pretending to be injured because someone’s hand brushed his face. It’s become who can cheat the best.”
Another X user said: “Football is terrible. Nowhere near the same level of individual skill – it’s just a coaches game now. Yawn. You can go hours and all you’ve seen it Konate and Van Dijk pass it side to side.”
A sports fan wrote: “Football too robotic now. Game’s gone. And darts is just incredible.”
Boffins say darts has exploded to the ‘envy’ of other sports because it has been ‘expertly tailored to modern audiences’.
Joshua McLeod and Hunter Fujak, senior lecturers in sports management at Australia’s Deakin University, wrote on academic website The Conversation: “One of darts’ best-known selling points is live event experience.
“The entertainment-first approach is known for loud music, the showmanship of player walk-ons, fancy dress from the crowd and yes, often plenty of alcohol.
“The lines are blurred between sport and party and fans love it.
“Culturally darts is seen by many as fun, relatable, and rooted in working-class culture. After all, its heritage is in the pub.” The academics said the sport was ideally ‘suited to modern sport media consumption habits’ – matches were not too long and ‘up-close TV’ worked ‘perfectly for social media’.
“It is also one of the few sports where women compete directly against men,” they said.
“The so-called ‘Littler Effect’ has given darts’ profile a significant boost.
“The emergence of talented teenager Luke Littler has broken new ground for the sport and drawn global interest. But it would be unfair to say darts is a one-man band.
“The success of darts reveals much about modern sports audiences and their preferences. Darts does not rely on traditional ideas of athletic excellence nor does it fit the Olympic ideal.
“Yet, darts is thriving while many traditional sports are stagnating.
“Darts’ success stems from remaining authentic to its working-class roots while evolving into an engaging commercial product suited for television, short-form content and digital media.
“Few sports have witnessed a transformation as dramatic as darts in recent years.
“For darts to fully achieve its global potential the next step has to be continued international growth.
“As the global sports marketplace becomes more fragmented and competitive, darts is well positioned to continue growing.”
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