Split in darts
Darts had boomed as a televised sport in Britain in the 1980s, and the resulting influx of sponsorship and prize money allowed many players to turn professional.
[3] ITV producer Donald Baverstock stated: "Twelve thousand darts fans turn up at the Ally Pally drunk as skunks.
Then, in 1978, the BBC picked up the inaugural World Professional Darts Championship,[8] in part because it was "a cheap way to fill the schedules at a time of year when the rest of the sporting programme was decimated by weather.
[10] In that year's world final, Keith Deller, a qualifier and 66/1 tournament outsider, defeated the heavily-favoured Eric Bristow 6–5 in an epic match.
[15] The abundance of prize money, sponsorship and television coverage, and with it the increased demand for exhibitions, meant that many top players were able to become full-time professionals.
"[22] Darts had not lost viewers, but Greg Dyke, ITV's director of programmes, wanted to attract younger and more affluent audiences to the channel.
[25][26] While the decline of television coverage was partly due to policy changes at the BBC and ITV, the BDO were also blamed for allowing the game to stagnate and not doing enough to improve its image.
As major tournaments disappeared, this meant reduced prize money, sponsorship and television exposure, which in turn led to fewer bookings for exhibition matches.
Rod Harrington summarised the players' issue: "The trouble with the BDO is that, after the world championships and its great prize money, there is virtually nothing.
Whatever Croft and his allies in Muswell Hill intended, between the Finchley meeting in spring 1993 and the pre-court case proceedings in 1997 some terrible things were being reported.
[42] Kevin Burrows, a semi-professional player who qualified for the WDC's inaugural 1994 World Championship was blacklisted from all levels of BDO darts for participating in the rebel tournament.
[43] In 1997, Richie Burnett, John Part and Alan Evans all received a ban from BDO competitions for playing in a special "Battle of the Champions" event broadcast on Sky Sports against WDC players Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley and Eric Bristow.
[44] Waddell himself, who was sympathetic to the WDC players and helped them set up some of their early tournaments, recalled being treated "like a pariah" at the 1994 BDO world championship.
Moreover, the emergence of satellite television gave them a new option: Sky Sports, who had recently purchased the broadcast rights to English football's new Premier League.
[49] Then, in November 1993, just weeks before the WDC world championship was due to start, Mike Gregory also had a change of heart and returned to the BDO.
John Lowe felt that Gregory had succumbed to pressure from Olly Croft, who warned that he would lose his house if the WDC lost its case.
Besides the 14 rebels, it featured two more English players willing to defy the BDO sanctions, Graeme Stoddart and Kevin Burrows, Irishman Tom Kirby and seven Americans.
The 1994 BDO World Championship took place with a largely unknown field, including 17 debutants, although Bobby George produced a resurgent performance to reach the final.
In return, the WDC dropped their damages claim for loss of earnings and agreed to remove the word 'world' from their name, renaming themselves the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Mervyn King and Jelle Klaasen did the same in 2007, leading to threats of legal action by the BDO,[60] and subsequently Ted Hankey followed suit in 2012.
[69] Dan Waddell wrote: "for a number of years after the split and beyond, the issue of which code was the strongest and which World Championship was best was a source of passionate debate among darts and sports fans.
But where the BDO had the edge was in depth of talent: players who had qualified for the Embassy and were excellent performers in county and international darts, who made the tournament tougher than the WDC equivalent for the higher seeds".
[68] Ned Boulting also thought there was "genuine parity" between the codes for the first decade after the split, noting that while the PDC had some outstanding players, it lacked strength in numbers.
[73] In 2004, Taylor defeated Andy Fordham, the reigning BDO champion, in another challenge match broadcast on Sky Sports pay-per-view.
However, other former Lakeside champions who switched codes had less success: Richie Burnett, Steve Beaton, Jelle Klaasen, Mark Webster, Christian Kist, Scott Mitchell and Ted Hankey all failed to win a major event in the PDC.
Under Hearn's management, the PDC Pro Tour was established, and major televised tournaments such as the UK Open, the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the Grand Slam of Darts, the Masters and the Premier League were added to the circuit.
Their "brand" sells out arenas designed to host stadium-swallowing rock bands, they have the best players in the world under their banner and quickly attract the best newcomers from across the divide who see a chance to make money on the professional circuit.
The BDO continues to do a fine job promoting amateur darts, but its professional game is lacklustre, kept afloat only by Bob Potter's largesse and some half-hearted BBC TV coverage.
The BDO try to offer their professionals and top-end players tournaments and opportunities to compete, but even they know the game is up and that the flow of talent to the PDC is a tide that can't be turned.
[97] All PDC tour card holders were now permitted to enter BDO events, with the rule changes coming into effect on 1 October of the same year.
