Split in darts
Encyclopedia
The split in darts refers to an acrimonious dispute between top professional darts
players and the game's governing body which began in 1992 and resulted in the formation of a new organisation to arrange tournaments - including a second version of the World Professional Darts Championship
. The effect of this split is visible many years later, as there are still two pools of players, two organisations and two world championships - the original British Darts Organisation
(BDO) and the newer breakaway Professional Darts Corporation
.
(BDO) was formed in 1973. They became the governing body of the game in the United Kingdom and would organise darts events for grassroots players right through to the best players in the world.
Darts first appeared on British television in 1962 when Westward Television
broadcast the Westward TV Invitational to the south-west of England
. In 1970, ITV
broadcast the News of the World Championship
and from 1972 the Indoor League
, which featured a darts tournament.
Gradually televised events began to appear more regularly. ITV broadcast the World Masters, British Matchplay, the World Matchplay, the World Cup and other International competitions - usually on its Saturday afternoon sports anthology show World of Sport
.
When the World Championship
began in 1978, the BBC picked up the event and also went on to cover the Bullseye Darts Championship, British Gold Cup, British Professional Championship and others in later years.
The mass of coverage and amount of prize money in the game led to several players turning professional - now able to make a full-time living from the game.
Professional darts in Britain began to haemorrhage sponsors and lost most of its television coverage. In 1983 the British Gold Cup (BBC), Butlins Grand Masters (ATV) and British Matchplay (ITV) had all ended and in 1985 ITV decided to cancel its World of Sport show which had covered darts on a regular basis. ITV continued to show darts as programmes in their own right - but eventually withdrew from the game after the World Matchplay in 1987 and their final tournament was the World Masters in 1988. The BBC also pulled the plug on the British Professional Championship in 1988 which meant that the World Championship was the only tournament left on television.
The BDO banned alcohol on stage during all matches from the 1989 World Championship, but the game maintained a poor image to sponsors.
As a result, 16 professional players, including every previous BDO World Champion who was still active in the game, created their own darts organisation originally named the World Darts Council (WDC) in January 1992.
They wanted to appoint a public relations
consultant to improve the image of the game and also staged their first televised event in 1992 (the Lada UK Masters on Anglia Television
).
The 1993 Embassy World Championship was the last time all the players played in one unified competition. The WDC players wore their new insignia on their sleeves during the tournament, but were told to remove them by the BDO. The WDC players decided that if they were not going to be recognised by the BDO they would no longer play in the Embassy tournament. The BDO did not allow the WDC players to set up their own tournaments and the players decided to go their own way.
, which had not existed during the decline of the game, was beginning to become a viable option, following the creation of football's Premier League and signed a deal to cover exclusively three WDC tournaments each year.
Originally 16 players "defected" from the BDO to form the WDC - Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley
, Rod Harrington
, Alan Warriner
, Peter Evison
, Richie Gardner
, Jocky Wilson
, Eric Bristow
, Keith Deller
, John Lowe
, Bob Anderson
, Cliff Lazarenko
, Kevin Spiolek
, Jamie Harvey
, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns
. The list included every previous World Champion who was still active in the game - only Leighton Rees
(who had already retired) was absent.
Gregory and Johns however had a change of heart and returned to the BDO - but the remaining 14 players remained united and managed to stick together to get their own version of the World Championship off the ground in 1994. The BDO event continued with a largely unknown field - although Bobby George
produced a resurgent performance to reach the final. The BDO held onto their contract with the BBC to show the event on terrestrial television and began to bring through a new generation of players.
The two bodies reached an out-of-court settlement on 30 June 1997 in the form of a Tomlin order
.
The BDO recognized the WDC and agreed that all players shall have the freedom of choice as to which open events they wish to play in. The WDC dropped its claim to be a world governing body and renamed itself the Professional Darts Corporation
(PDC). The PDC accepted / recognized the WDF as the governing body for the Sport of Darts worldwide, and the BDO the governing body for darts in the UK. The stated purpose of the agreement was to promote the freedom of individual darts players to participate freely in open competition.
between 1998 and 2001 - but entry was later restricted to members of the Professional Dart Players Association
, which looks after PDC players. Most PDC tournaments are now usually restricted to members of the PDPA.
To play in a BDO / WDF tournament, a player must agree to comply with the rules of the 1997 Tomlin Order and remain eligible for the BDO World Masters and World Championship, which effectively means not become a member of the PDPA. Players therefore usually have to choose whether to be affiliated to the PDC or the BDO and stay within the jurisdiction of that organisation.
However, there are notable exceptions. PDPA Players Championships and Open events often allow residents of the host country to participate regardless of being a PDPA member or not. This leads to anomalies such as Michael van Gerwen
winning the PDC Open Holland in 2006 whilst being a BDO player at the time.
Another exception is made for major Dutch televised tournaments. They were previously staged under BDO / WDF qualification rules, but when the most famous Dutch player Raymond van Barneveld
switched to the PDC, the tournament organisers insisted on inviting PDC players. An agreement was made with the BDO to allow a number of PDC wildcards for each event. Three more top Dutch players joined the PDC in January 2007 which adds more confusion to player eligibility rules for these events. (see International Darts League
and World Darts Trophy
)
The Grand Slam of Darts
(organised by the PDC) is the first major tournament staged in the United Kingdom
to feature players from both sides of the darting divide. Inaugurated in 2007 it also featured a return to darts broadcasting for ITV
and in 2008 was broadcast exclusively live on ITV4
. Players who reached the latter stages of all the major PDC and BDO tournaments over a two-year period were invited, and all but one (the then BDO World Champion Martin Adams
) accepted the invite - Phil Taylor won the competition in 2007, 2008 and 2009, BDO member Scott Waites
won the title in 2010.
.
At the time of the split itself all the previous World Champions and top ranked players left to join the WDC/PDC. The WDC/PDC stayed a "closed shop
" for several years which protected the exposure of the players who made the switch. The World Championship featured a group stage which guaranteed at least two television appearances for its players. Several of these players including Jocky Wilson
, who retired shortly after the split in 1995, Eric Bristow
, Keith Deller
and Cliff Lazarenko
had all been in a downward spiral of form for a few years. The group stage was scrapped for the 1999 championship, and the tournament has been conducted in a single elimination format since then with the number of participants gradually increasing.
The BDO began to bring through several players from their county system which continued to improve the standard of the organisation which had been decimated by the split. Nevertheless, a good number of professionals including top players Ronnie Baxter
, Wayne Mardle
, Chris Mason
, Kevin Painter
and former BDO World Champions John Part
, Steve Beaton
, Richie Burnett
, Raymond van Barneveld
, Jelle Klaasen
and Anastasia Dobromyslova
have switched and further increased the standard in the Professional Darts Corporation.
There is no definitive World Champion in the game, although Phil Taylor has won 15 world titles (13 PDC and 2 BDO before the split). Taylor has also twice beaten the incumbent BDO World Champion in the only ever head-to-head challenge matches. However, the existence of the two events still leads to uncertainty as to how many titles he would have won had the game been unified - for instance Ted Hankey
produced a devastating run of form in the 2000 BDO World Championship, destroying the field and might have delivered a sterner test than Taylor received that year. Former BDO stalwarts John Part
and Raymond van Barneveld
have won the PDC World Championship having previously won the BDO version demonstrating that players from the one system do have the ability to win the other world championship. In addition, BDO World Champion Mark Webster
defeated PDC World Champion John Part
10–2 in legs in the second round of the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts
.
It wasn't until the 2002 PDC World Darts Championship that the winners cheque and total prize fund of the PDC version overtook the BDO event but by the 2010
and 2011 PDC World Darts Championship
there is now a record prize fund of £1,000,000 with the winners receiving a record £200,000. The 2010 BDO World Darts Championship
prize fund was £325,000 with the winner Martin Adams
taking £100,000.
As the two organizations compete in very similar world championships within a month of each other, comparing 3-dart averages across the tournaments gives a (reasonably) objective
measure of ability in the organizations. As can be seen from table below (3 dart average and (in brackets), the standard deviation
) at the respective 2009 World Championships the PDC average is higher in every comparable round, often by a margin greater than a standard deviation. Indeed, the average of the last 64 PDC players is higher than the last 32 BDO players.
made a bid of £1 million to purchase the BDO. It was the first time that a formal offer had been made public to end the 17-year split between the two organisations. However, later in the day, BDO founder Olly Croft
rejected the proposal. A few months after the takeover offer and in the aftermath of the two organisations' 2010 World Championships
, it was revealed and understood that the county organisations had asked the BDO board to consider the offer more seriously.
Almost two years later, Croft was voted off the BDO board at their 2011 AGM
ending 38 years as the main figurehead of the Organisation.
Darts
Darts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
players and the game's governing body which began in 1992 and resulted in the formation of a new organisation to arrange tournaments - including a second version of the World Professional Darts Championship
World Professional Darts Championship
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game...
. The effect of this split is visible many years later, as there are still two pools of players, two organisations and two world championships - the original British Darts Organisation
British Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....
(BDO) and the newer breakaway Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
.
Before the split
The British Darts OrganisationBritish Darts Organisation
The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976....
(BDO) was formed in 1973. They became the governing body of the game in the United Kingdom and would organise darts events for grassroots players right through to the best players in the world.
Darts first appeared on British television in 1962 when Westward Television
Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV franchise holder for the South West of England from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward provided a popular, distinctive and highly regarded service to its region, until public boardroom squabbles led to its franchise not...
broadcast the Westward TV Invitational to the south-west of England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. In 1970, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
broadcast the News of the World Championship
News of the World Darts Championship
The News of the World Individual Darts Championship was one of the first major organised darts competitions, which began in 1927. It became England's first national darts competition from 1947 until its demise in 1990...
and from 1972 the Indoor League
Indoor League
Indoor League was a television series broadcast in the United Kingdom by Yorkshire Television during the 1970s.It was hosted by England cricketer, Fred Trueman who often wore a cardigan whilst smoking a pipe throughout his links...
, which featured a darts tournament.
Gradually televised events began to appear more regularly. ITV broadcast the World Masters, British Matchplay, the World Matchplay, the World Cup and other International competitions - usually on its Saturday afternoon sports anthology show World of Sport
World of Sport (UK TV series)
World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...
.
When the World Championship
World Professional Darts Championship
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split in the game...
began in 1978, the BBC picked up the event and also went on to cover the Bullseye Darts Championship, British Gold Cup, British Professional Championship and others in later years.
The mass of coverage and amount of prize money in the game led to several players turning professional - now able to make a full-time living from the game.
Decline in the game
Darts players were allowed to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes on the stage during matches, a reflection of the game's roots in British pubs. The players were famously mocked on a Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch in 1980 right at the height of darts' popularity. Whilst the sketch did not put an immediate halt to its popularity, it reflected the detrimental image of the game and may have contributed to its long-term decline.Professional darts in Britain began to haemorrhage sponsors and lost most of its television coverage. In 1983 the British Gold Cup (BBC), Butlins Grand Masters (ATV) and British Matchplay (ITV) had all ended and in 1985 ITV decided to cancel its World of Sport show which had covered darts on a regular basis. ITV continued to show darts as programmes in their own right - but eventually withdrew from the game after the World Matchplay in 1987 and their final tournament was the World Masters in 1988. The BBC also pulled the plug on the British Professional Championship in 1988 which meant that the World Championship was the only tournament left on television.
The BDO banned alcohol on stage during all matches from the 1989 World Championship, but the game maintained a poor image to sponsors.
Players' unrest
Many players had turned professional during darts' peak years, and the withdrawal of all the television coverage left them with very little prize money to play for, and a lack of the exposure which they needed to allow them to make a living from exhibition matches. The top players felt that not enough was being done by the governing body, the BDO to encourage new sponsors into their sport and television coverage should be greater than just one event a year.As a result, 16 professional players, including every previous BDO World Champion who was still active in the game, created their own darts organisation originally named the World Darts Council (WDC) in January 1992.
They wanted to appoint a public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
consultant to improve the image of the game and also staged their first televised event in 1992 (the Lada UK Masters on Anglia Television
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
).
The 1993 World Championship
The "defectors"
Satellite broadcaster Sky SportsSky Sports
Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
, which had not existed during the decline of the game, was beginning to become a viable option, following the creation of football's Premier League and signed a deal to cover exclusively three WDC tournaments each year.
Originally 16 players "defected" from the BDO to form the WDC - Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley
Dennis Priestley is an English professional darts player. He has won two world championships, and was the first player to win both the BDO and WDC world championships, in 1991 and 1994 respectively...
, Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington
Rod Harrington is a former English darts player. He used the nickname The Prince of Style for his matches, often wearing a suit and waistcoast for his games...
, Alan Warriner
Alan Warriner-Little
Alan Warriner-Little is an English professional darts player. He currently lives in Crosby, Cumbria and plays with the nickname The Iceman...
, Peter Evison
Peter Evison
Peter Evison is a darts player who has enjoyed a long career in the game. His greatest achievements were to win the 1989 Winmau World Masters and the 1996 World Matchplay. He has also come close to winning the World Championship on a number of occasions.Before appearing in a major tournament...
, Richie Gardner
Richie Gardner
Richie Gardner is a former English professional darts player, who had some success during the 1980s and was one of the 16 top players who formed a breakaway organisation during an acrimonious split in the game during 1992-94....
, Jocky Wilson
Jocky Wilson
John Thomas Wilson known as "Jocky" Wilson, is a former Scottish darts champion. He retired from the game in 1995.Wilson was twice World professional Darts Champion in 1982 and 1989...
, Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
, Keith Deller
Keith Deller
Keith Deller is an English darts player, who won the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship in 1983. He was the first qualifier ever to win the championship and remains one of the youngest champions in history...
, John Lowe
John Lowe
John Lowe is an English darts player who was one of the best-known men in darts during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Lowe is one of only five players to have won the World Championship 3 times.-Biography:Lowe won the World Championship title in three different decades -...
, Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (darts player)
Robert Charles "Bob" Anderson is a former world darts champion. He was ranked as world number one for over three years in the late 1980s. Nicknamed The Limestone Cowboy, he lives in Clevedon in Somerset.-Before Darts:Anderson threw his first darts maximum at the age of just five...
, Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...
, Kevin Spiolek
Kevin Spiolek
Kevin Spiolek is an English darts player who played during the 1980s and 1990s. He made a brief return to form in 2006 when qualifying to play in the PDC World Darts Championship....
, Jamie Harvey
Jamie Harvey
Jamie Harvey is a Scottish darts player who plays in the British Darts Organization . He currently resides in Barrhead. Harvey uses the nickname Bravedart for his matches - a play on the lead character from the film Braveheart...
, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns
Chris Johns (darts player)
Chris Johns is a former Welsh darts player. He played county darts for Glamorgan and played in the BDO World Darts Championship on five occasions, but will be best remembered as a controversial figure in an acrimonious split in the game between 1992 and 1994....
. The list included every previous World Champion who was still active in the game - only Leighton Rees
Leighton Rees
Leighton Thomas Rees was the first ever World Professional Darts Champion.-Early life:Rees was born in the village of Ynysybwl, where he was to spend most of his life...
(who had already retired) was absent.
Gregory and Johns however had a change of heart and returned to the BDO - but the remaining 14 players remained united and managed to stick together to get their own version of the World Championship off the ground in 1994. The BDO event continued with a largely unknown field - although Bobby George
Bobby George
Robert Francis George is an English darts player and presenter. He is widely recognised as one of the game's biggest personalities, known for his flamboyant entrances in which the "King of Darts" makes his way to the stage bedecked in jewellery, wearing a crown and cloak and holding a candelabra...
produced a resurgent performance to reach the final. The BDO held onto their contract with the BBC to show the event on terrestrial television and began to bring through a new generation of players.
Court action
The BDO took the step to ban the rebel players from playing in county darts and even threatened to ban any player who participated in exhibition events with WDC players. This led to a protracted three year legal battle between the players and the BDO which would incur large costs for both sides.The two bodies reached an out-of-court settlement on 30 June 1997 in the form of a Tomlin order
Tomlin order
A Tomlin order is a court order in the English civil justice system under which a court action is stayed, on terms which have been agreed in advance between the parties and which are included in a schedule to the order. As such, it is a form of consent order. The order permits either party to...
.
The BDO recognized the WDC and agreed that all players shall have the freedom of choice as to which open events they wish to play in. The WDC dropped its claim to be a world governing body and renamed itself the Professional Darts Corporation
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation is a professional darts organization, established in the United Kingdom during 1992, when a group of leading professional players split from the British Darts Organisation to form what was initially called the World Darts Council...
(PDC). The PDC accepted / recognized the WDF as the governing body for the Sport of Darts worldwide, and the BDO the governing body for darts in the UK. The stated purpose of the agreement was to promote the freedom of individual darts players to participate freely in open competition.
Player eligibility
Despite the Tomlin Order, eligibility for tournaments is somewhat complicated and possibly controversial. Initially some BDO players took the opportunity to play in the PDC World MatchplayStan James World Matchplay
The Skybet World Matchplay is a darts tournament, played in a legs format, and is run by the Professional Darts Corporation . The tournament is sponsored by Skybet who take over from Stan James after 10 years.The World Matchplay has been played yearly since 1994 in the Empress Ballroom at the...
between 1998 and 2001 - but entry was later restricted to members of the Professional Dart Players Association
Professional Dart Players Association
The Professional Dart Players Association is an organisation for professional dart players. Its intention is to look after the interests of professional players through an annually elected Board of six current professionals.-Formation:...
, which looks after PDC players. Most PDC tournaments are now usually restricted to members of the PDPA.
To play in a BDO / WDF tournament, a player must agree to comply with the rules of the 1997 Tomlin Order and remain eligible for the BDO World Masters and World Championship, which effectively means not become a member of the PDPA. Players therefore usually have to choose whether to be affiliated to the PDC or the BDO and stay within the jurisdiction of that organisation.
However, there are notable exceptions. PDPA Players Championships and Open events often allow residents of the host country to participate regardless of being a PDPA member or not. This leads to anomalies such as Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player, nicknamed Mighty Mike. He is the youngest player in history to win a major televised tournament in either the BDO or the PDC, winning the 2006 Winmau World Masters at the age of 17...
winning the PDC Open Holland in 2006 whilst being a BDO player at the time.
Another exception is made for major Dutch televised tournaments. They were previously staged under BDO / WDF qualification rules, but when the most famous Dutch player Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
switched to the PDC, the tournament organisers insisted on inviting PDC players. An agreement was made with the BDO to allow a number of PDC wildcards for each event. Three more top Dutch players joined the PDC in January 2007 which adds more confusion to player eligibility rules for these events. (see International Darts League
International Darts League
The Topic International Darts League was a darts tournament held at the Triavium in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Raymond van Barneveld dominated the tournament, held in his home country, winning it on three of the five occasions it was held...
and World Darts Trophy
World Darts Trophy
The World Darts Trophy was a darts tournament held each September at De Vechtsebanen in Utrecht, Netherlands between 2002 and 2007. The tournament has a playing format comparable with the two World Championships, the BDO World Darts Championship and the PDC World Darts Championship...
)
The Grand Slam of Darts
Grand Slam of Darts
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the William Hill Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invites the best performing players from its rival the British Darts Organisation...
(organised by the PDC) is the first major tournament staged in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to feature players from both sides of the darting divide. Inaugurated in 2007 it also featured a return to darts broadcasting for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and in 2008 was broadcast exclusively live on ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
. Players who reached the latter stages of all the major PDC and BDO tournaments over a two-year period were invited, and all but one (the then BDO World Champion Martin Adams
Martin Adams
Martin Adams is an English international darts player. Nicknamed Wolfie or Mr BDO, he is BDO world ranked number one, three-time and reigning BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion...
) accepted the invite - Phil Taylor won the competition in 2007, 2008 and 2009, BDO member Scott Waites
Scott Waites
Scott Waites is an English professional darts player who plays in tournaments organised by the British Darts Organisation.-Darts career:...
won the title in 2010.
Standing of organisations
Opinion is split as to which is the most prestigious title to win. The prize money is far greater in the PDC World Championship and the field contains arguably more than half of the best players in the world. However the British Darts Organisation title has been in existence since 1978 and is generally better known to the UK public due to its coverage on the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
At the time of the split itself all the previous World Champions and top ranked players left to join the WDC/PDC. The WDC/PDC stayed a "closed shop
Closed shop
A closed shop is a form of union security agreement under which the employer agrees to hire union members only, and employees must remain members of the union at all times in order to remain employed....
" for several years which protected the exposure of the players who made the switch. The World Championship featured a group stage which guaranteed at least two television appearances for its players. Several of these players including Jocky Wilson
Jocky Wilson
John Thomas Wilson known as "Jocky" Wilson, is a former Scottish darts champion. He retired from the game in 1995.Wilson was twice World professional Darts Champion in 1982 and 1989...
, who retired shortly after the split in 1995, Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow
Eric Bristow MBE is a British darts player, whose skill at the game in the 1980s helped turn it into a worldwide spectator sport.- Early career :...
, Keith Deller
Keith Deller
Keith Deller is an English darts player, who won the Embassy World Professional Darts Championship in 1983. He was the first qualifier ever to win the championship and remains one of the youngest champions in history...
and Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko
Cliff Lazarenko is an English professional darts player who competed for the British Darts Organisation and the Professional Darts Corporation...
had all been in a downward spiral of form for a few years. The group stage was scrapped for the 1999 championship, and the tournament has been conducted in a single elimination format since then with the number of participants gradually increasing.
The BDO began to bring through several players from their county system which continued to improve the standard of the organisation which had been decimated by the split. Nevertheless, a good number of professionals including top players Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter
Ronnie Baxter is an English darts player. He uses the nickname The Rocket for his matches. Baxter is known for his fast, robotic throwing action...
, Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle
Wayne Mardle is a darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation, and former player in the BDO. He now lives in Romford...
, Chris Mason
Chris Mason (darts player)
Christopher John Mason is an English darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation. He uses the nickname Mace the Ace for his matches.- BDO and first PDC spell :...
, Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter
Kevin Painter is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, where he is known as "The Artist"...
and former BDO World Champions John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
, Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton
Steve Beaton is an English professional darts player for the Professional Darts Corporation...
, Richie Burnett
Richie Burnett
Richie Burnett is a Welsh darts player who was the 1995 Embassy World Darts Champion and currently plays in Professional Darts Corporation events. His nickname is The Prince of Wales.-BDO career:...
, Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
, Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation and is the youngest darts player to win the World Darts Championship. His nickname is The Matador. He lives in Breda, North Brabant, Netherlands...
and Anastasia Dobromyslova
Anastasia Dobromyslova
Anastasia Dobromyslova-Martin is a professional darts player. She is a former winner of the Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the British Darts Organisation, winning it in 2008...
have switched and further increased the standard in the Professional Darts Corporation.
There is no definitive World Champion in the game, although Phil Taylor has won 15 world titles (13 PDC and 2 BDO before the split). Taylor has also twice beaten the incumbent BDO World Champion in the only ever head-to-head challenge matches. However, the existence of the two events still leads to uncertainty as to how many titles he would have won had the game been unified - for instance Ted Hankey
Ted Hankey
Edward "Ted" Hankey is an English darts player who is a two-time BDO World Professional Darts Champion. His nickname is The Count and his walk on music is Be On Your Way by DJ Zany. Hankey built up a large following due to his obsession with and resemblance to Dracula...
produced a devastating run of form in the 2000 BDO World Championship, destroying the field and might have delivered a sterner test than Taylor received that year. Former BDO stalwarts John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
and Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld , nickname Barney is a professional darts player. He is a five time World Darts Champion, and two time UK Open Champion. From January to June 2008, he was the PDC world number one ranked player...
have won the PDC World Championship having previously won the BDO version demonstrating that players from the one system do have the ability to win the other world championship. In addition, BDO World Champion Mark Webster
Mark Webster (darts player)
Mark Webster is a left-handed Welsh darts player who lives in Denbigh. Known as Webby, he plays in Professional Darts Corporation events, having previously won the 2008 BDO World Championship. Mark became a full time professional in 2009, having previously been a fully qualified Gas registered...
defeated PDC World Champion John Part
John Part
John Part is a Canadian professional darts player, who is nicknamed Darth Maple.Part is one of only five players in darts history to be a three time World Champion...
10–2 in legs in the second round of the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts
2008 Grand Slam of Darts
The 2008 Grand Slam of Darts was the second staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 15–23 November 2008 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall...
.
It wasn't until the 2002 PDC World Darts Championship that the winners cheque and total prize fund of the PDC version overtook the BDO event but by the 2010
2010 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2010 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 17th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation....
and 2011 PDC World Darts Championship
2011 PDC World Darts Championship
The 2011 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship was the 18th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the British Darts Organisation.Phil Taylor was the defending champion, having won the 2010 tournament...
there is now a record prize fund of £1,000,000 with the winners receiving a record £200,000. The 2010 BDO World Darts Championship
2010 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2010 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 33rd World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 25th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Ted Hankey was the defending men's champion having won the title for the second time in the...
prize fund was £325,000 with the winner Martin Adams
Martin Adams
Martin Adams is an English international darts player. Nicknamed Wolfie or Mr BDO, he is BDO world ranked number one, three-time and reigning BDO World Champion and three-time World Masters champion...
taking £100,000.
As the two organizations compete in very similar world championships within a month of each other, comparing 3-dart averages across the tournaments gives a (reasonably) objective
Objectivity (philosophy)
Objectivity is a central philosophical concept which has been variously defined by sources. A proposition is generally considered to be objectively true when its truth conditions are met and are "mind-independent"—that is, not met by the judgment of a conscious entity or subject.- Objectivism...
measure of ability in the organizations. As can be seen from table below (3 dart average and (in brackets), the standard deviation
Standard deviation
Standard deviation is a widely used measure of variability or diversity used in statistics and probability theory. It shows how much variation or "dispersion" there is from the average...
) at the respective 2009 World Championships the PDC average is higher in every comparable round, often by a margin greater than a standard deviation. Indeed, the average of the last 64 PDC players is higher than the last 32 BDO players.
| Organization | Round of 64 3-dart-average | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarter Final | Semi Final | Final | Tournament (Last 32 onwards) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BDO | N/A | 84.3 (7.7) | 90.9 (3.3) | 89.9 (2.1) | 94.0 (1.5) | 91.0 (0.7) | 87.6 (6.8) |
| PDC | 87.5 (5.5) | 92.8 (4.6) | 93.7 (4.2) | 94.9 (10.0) | 94.8 (6.3) | 106.1 (6.9) | 93.8 (5.9) |
PDC bid to takeover BDO
On 21 October 2009, Barry HearnBarry Hearn
Barry Hearn is an English sporting events promoter, and the founder and chairman of promotions company Matchroom Sport. He is currently the chairman of Leyton Orient F.C., and the Professional Darts Corporation and was also until July 2010 chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker...
made a bid of £1 million to purchase the BDO. It was the first time that a formal offer had been made public to end the 17-year split between the two organisations. However, later in the day, BDO founder Olly Croft
Olly Croft
Oliver Albert "Olly" Croft, OBE is a former darts administrator and the founder of the British Darts Organisation. He was one of the most influential protagonists in darts for almost four decades having set up and run the British Darts Organisation from its inception in 1973 until he was voted off...
rejected the proposal. A few months after the takeover offer and in the aftermath of the two organisations' 2010 World Championships
2010 BDO World Darts Championship
The 2010 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 33rd World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 25th staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Ted Hankey was the defending men's champion having won the title for the second time in the...
, it was revealed and understood that the county organisations had asked the BDO board to consider the offer more seriously.
Almost two years later, Croft was voted off the BDO board at their 2011 AGM
Annual general meeting
An annual general meeting is a meeting that official bodies, and associations involving the public , are often required by law to hold...
ending 38 years as the main figurehead of the Organisation.