(INTERVIEW) "The Germans don't stand out in an incredibly negative way" - Elmar Paulke on the opinion that German fans are a 'terrible audience'

At the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship, Gerwyn Price appeared on stage wearing ear defenders after the crowd disturbed him in his match against Gabriel Clemens by booing and whistling.

We will no longer see such scenes at the upcoming World Darts Championship, which starts on Friday, after the PDC decided to ban this type of hearing protection. The question now is how the audience in the 'Ally Pally' crowd will react.

In recent months, comments have repeatedly appeared on the social media platform X that the audience at PDC events has changed dramatically - from darts fans to pure party people. Dartsnews.de passed this question on to 'the German voice of darts' in an interview with Elmar Paulke.

"The audience has changed. I still think that when it gets big, when it gets important, the focus is still on the sport. Yes, we have more fans. I think it's an evolution. If you want to get out of the niche, if you want to go broad, then of course you also have this development. That's just the way it is. That's often been part of the deal, to say we're making darts bigger. But I still have the impression that it doesn't really matter where you are. Whether it's in Berlin in front of 10,000 at the Premier League or Ally Pally or European Tour. When it gets exciting in terms of sport, they're actually all there again and everyone is pulling in the same direction," Paulke shared his view of things.

He also has an opinion on the booing and whistling that disturbs the players' concentration: "I always find it amazing how harshly the fans criticise. As soon as you do something that's not perfect and perhaps you've made the wrong decision, they criticise you so harshly or hit you directly. I don't like that! I think mistakes are part of development, part of a process that you have to go through so that you can continue to develop."

German fans in particular are often said to be a nuisance to the players. Paulke explains the fact that it is precisely this audience that is emphasised, while these reactions from fans in other countries receive far less attention, as follows: "If we go back 10 or 15 years, the cool thing was that everyone was cheered because there were very few Germans there. I was happy when Taylor played or van Barneveld or van Gerwen or whoever. Or Adrian Lewis. Everyone was celebrated. And now there are sporting expectations and now you're behind the German player. I think that does something to you as a fan. You go into a camp like that and I think that's taken the next step."

"I also think the Germans don't stand out in an incredibly negative way. That's the case everywhere and it's obviously a challenge that the athlete has to accept. It's difficult. The PDC ultimately wants us to have the sport the way we have it. With the fans and the chants, even though we are in a mental sport. We know that this would be unthinkable in tennis and golf. That's simply part of the challenge. You have to be able to handle that as an athlete, as a professional player."