Matthew Porter has been the chief executive of the PDC since January of 2008. His ties to Barry Hearn and Matchroom however began much earlier and he's spoken to Dan Dawson describing the impact Hearn has had on the sport of darts.
"When people say 'what do you do?' I don't actually say I work for Matchroom or the PDC. I say I work for Barry Hearn," Porter reveals. PDC Chairman, Barry Hearn is credited with revolutionising the sport of darts and being a major factor in the global growth of the game that we see today with the packed out crowds at the likes of the European Tour and the World Series.
Famously though Hearn can occasionally have a bit of a short temper and when Dan Dawson asks Porter if he's been on the receiving end of the famous hairdryer treatment, "erm, twice yeah," Porter says with a wry smile.
"Next time you see Stuart Pyke..." Porter continues after being pressed by Dawson to reveal why. "Make sure you tell him that if there is one hundred and eighty 180s in the New Zealand Darts Masters he has to say 'two dollar cheeseburgers,'" cue raucous laughter from Dawson. "He wasn't 100% delighted at having to embrace this particular phrase!"