COLUMN: Time seems right for a bigger darts tournament in the United States
PDCTuesday, 06 June 2023 at 19:00
The return of the US Darts Masters to Madison Square Gardens in New York City was an unmitigated success. As such, the United States seems ready for a bigger tournament.
The event again generated a lot of media attention and the seats were well filled during the US Darts Masters. More than three thousand American fans had come to the tournament every day, where eight world top players competed against eight of the best North American darts players.
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The North Americans showed they weren't just there to make up the numbers. Reigning world champion Michael Smith and world number two Peter Wright were even kicked straight out of the tournament by Jim Long and Jeff Smith respectively.
The latter oh whom, became man of the tournament. After his victory over Wright, 'The Silencer' also recorded great victories over Nathan Aspinall and Luke Humphries. Just prior to his duels against Aspinall and Humphries, Smith had already won the North American Championship.
After winning five games in one day, however, the tank turned out to be empty in the final. The Canadian was unable to offer Michael van Gerwen a match and went down 8-0 in the final.
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However, it did not change the conclusion that North American darts has taken another step. Not only in terms of level, but also in terms of attention to the sport. And so the question arises whether a larger tournament could not be held in the United States, for example a TV tournament that counts for the world ranking.
The PDC already ventured into this at the beginning of this century. Back then, several Players Championship tournaments were also played annually in North America, and a major tournament (Las Vegas Desert Classic) was also played. And at the time, despite Canadian John Part's three world titles, the sport was not nearly as popular there as it is now.
As far as I'm concerned, there are three options for setting up a ranking tournament in the United States. The first option is a new tournament on the calendar spot of the Masters, at the end of January. A tournament over three or four days with 32 players. Invite the 28 players who performed the best in the previous season, so only the prize money won in the second year on the PDC Order of Merit. After all, that ranking is based on results over a period of 24 months. The four remaining spots can then be given to four North American darts players, the best two Americans and Canadians for my part.
Another option is a similar tournament on the site of the World Series of Darts Finals in September, this event is, in my opinion, the most useless tournament on the calendar, together with the Masters. Invite to this tournament the 28 players who have performed best in the first seven or eight months of the season, supplemented by another four local darts players.
A final option is to move one of the existing majors to the United States. The World Grand Prix seems to me to be a good choice for this. However, this choice does not seem obvious. A step from a two-day tournament to a seven-day tournament may still be (too) big.
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A special weekend at Madison Square Garden - thanks to the thousands of fans who turned out for this year's US Darts Masters and North American Championship. Can't wait to do it all again next year! pic.twitter.com/0rotBnFQFY
— Matthew Porter (@MattPorter_PDC) June 4, 2023
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