"Alexandra Palace still has something magical" - 2-time World Championship participant Jerry Hendriks no fan of possible Saudi move

PDC President Barry Hearn recently opened the door to the possibility that the World Darts Championship might move to Saudi Arabia in the future. It's fair to say that Hearn's comments have provoked a lot of reaction from those within the game.

Michael Smith and Paul Nicholson, among others, said they were not in favour of a possible move. Gerwyn Price, on the other hand, said that a move could be a good idea. The podcast 'Double Top' also discussed the possible move. "I would think it would be pretty extraordinary if the World Championship is effectively going to take place in Saudi Arabia," said Jerry Hendriks. "After all, I've never known the World Championship being hosted anywhere other than in England."

"In my opinion, though, it's not going to be for immediately. After all, Hearn himself indicated that darts should be a party, where drinking a beer should certainly be possible," continues Hendriks, a two time World Darts Championship participant himself. "And that seems to be impossible in Saudi Arabia."

Hendriks, then, hesitates. "It's a difficult discussion anyway," he says. "After all, Alexandra Palace has something magical; maybe I'm a little biased because I've been on stage there twice myself."

Recently, the final of the Premier League Darts was finished in front of 14,000 spectators at the O2 Arena. "When you see how quickly that sold out it might be an option to move the World Championship there," adds the Dutch darts commentator Matthias De Vlieger. "Only it seems almost impossible to get every session filled there."

"The PDC's main goal remains making money," Hendriks add in his conclusion.. "So they will explore all possibilities on how to make the World Championship even more lucrative. Expanding the field of participants is certainly an option in that regard as well," he proposes.