Barry Hearn extends PDC olive branch to BDO and WDF

While the PDC continues to set the standard for darts events and prize money, questions have been asked about its role in promoting the grassroots game. Close ties with the BDO have been mooted in the past - and famously attempted by Hearn a decade ago - but the original darting body now teeters on the brink of collapse. Hearn cast doubt on the BDO's business acumen, along with the WDF.

“The big problem you’ve got, let’s be realistic, is that none of them have got any money,” Hearn told the Weekly Dartscast.

“They haven’t got working capital. A strength of the PDC is that we run a profitable business, a sustainable business.

“We can finance disasters like the Coronavirus. When you look at the BDO, I’m not going to criticise the BDO, they are what they are. And I’m not going to criticise the WDF, their heart’s in the right place.

“But they don’t have any money, because they haven’t run a business that has put aside (money) and run it properly, so that they’ve got a sustainable operation."

However, Hearn did reveal that the PDC have extended the offer of support to the WDF primarily, from which the BDO could profit if the olive branch is extended further.

“All I know is we are there to help, and that is a genuine offer, subject to them showing us that they can run a proper business," said Hearn.

“Once this epidemic has passed, there is going to be a backlog of not just my sports, I’m involved in 12 different sports now, but there’s a hundred sports out there.

“There’s going to be a backlog of events, an awful lot of competition for sponsors, for broadcast hours. We have long-term deals in place with most major broadcasters globally, we will have a certain amount of protection because of our size and our reputation.

“Unfortunately, the BDO don’t and the WDF has no commercial expertise at all. That’s not being cruel, that’s just being accurate, which is why we’ve said to the WDF, in principle, we’d like to help.

“We think a strong grassroots business globally is important to our success in the long term. It certainly spreads the gospel of darts, and we’d like to help, but I’ve yet to see a plan put in front of me that is workable.”

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