Why Darts Should Be in the Olympics

In truth, however, we all know it’s far from that. We’d even go as far as to say darts deserves more credit on a global stage, say, at the Olympics. Here’s why the sport merits inclusion in the world’s biggest sporting event.

To say darts is currently going through its golden era would perhaps undermine the success it achieved back in the 1980s. Its popularity at the time was based on the now legends of the game. Back then, darts was relatively new to television, and throughout the 1970s and 1980s, many different tournaments broadcasted. Founded in 1973, the BDO (British Darts Organization) is the oldest organization in the U.K. game. Up until 1992, it was not challenged and had sole organizational ownership of the sport. The PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) was founded, though it has since been the more successful of the two organizations. The standard is arguably better in the PDC, with most of the game’s top names competing under it — although it’s highly disputed.

More recently and thanks to the PDC, darts has caught on and been exposed to an increasing number of people. With its football-like atmosphere at the events, spectators go to drink, have a good time and watch some darts, all things they know they’ll get.
And with the help of events like the Premier League and the World Championships (PDC) televised on Sky, as well as many of the smaller tournaments like the PDC and the BDC World Championships appearing on ITV and BBC, respectively, it has helped to bring the sport into the mainstream immensely. As a result, it’s accessibility and reach are far greater than it once was, along with all the exposure it gets on social media, forums and even in certain video games.
The new standard has also helped to propel the game into something that a lot of people are becoming more interested. Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor (although he retired last year), Gary Anderson, Peter Wright, James Wade, Dave Chisnall and Raymond van Barneveld (perhaps a few years ago) have joined by a new, up-and-coming generation. That generation includes the likes of Rob Cross, James Cullen and Gerwyn Price — and even former BDO player Glen Durrant who won his first PDC title recently.
Football’s globalization has also brought the sport and many other industries together due to its popularity and the money that one can make from this synergy. For example, football is now heavily involved in gaming, with titles such as FIFA, Football Manager and Football Live Studio all giving gaming fans a reason to get involved with football. Similarly, the globalization of darts has seen the sport become mainstream, and thus, more popular. Just like football, this can come back to money and the commercialization of the game where you only have to look at the prize money for tournaments such as the World Championships to see how far darts has come.

Of course, darts is not one of the more athletic sports. Taking Price out of the equation, you only have to look at the demographics of players to see that. But in skill and nerve needed to compete successfully, not much else can top it. For those arguing that “darts isn’t a sport,” denotatively speaking, it is. Furthermore, it’s not called the Olympic sports, it’s called the Olympic Games, and darts is a game. Not trying to disrespect or undermine any of the current sports there, but darts are inherently more popular than the likes of dressage, archery and Greco-Roman wrestling. It’s already seen success in an international format, with a World Cup of darts already proving to be successful. Darts also has a strong diversity in player demographic. Yes, British and Dutch players dominate the circuit, but you only have to look at the World Championships to see a plethora of other nationalities come into the fray. From Australia’s Simon Whitlock to Spain’s Cristo Reyes. What’s more, there’s a decent presence in the women’s game as well, which has become televised over the last few years for certain events, so one could argue the demand will be there for that as well. Overall, darts epitomizes what the Olympics is all about. Sure, you have a few big stars, but most players are people who have normal lives and got into the sport as a bit of fun. As a spectator sport, it must rank up there as one of the best, with great atmospheres combined with frequent, non-stop action. The demand is there, and the players want it, so its omission from the Olympics doesn’t make much sense. But who knows? Perhaps we will see it added to the event in the future.