For many football fans, artificial crowd noise is something very familiar during the restart and will now reach the world of darts starting this weekend at the World Matchplay, it has been revealed.

PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter spoke this week on the Weekly Dartscast and said that as well as such innovations as a crowd wall; there will also be the crowd noise not only on screen; but in the arena itself to try and mirror the environment of a normal event as much as possible.

“There will be artificial crowd noise, which we’ll also be playing into the hall. We think it’ll make it a better atmosphere inside the hall than if it was just deafly silent and echoey; so that’ll probably make it a little bit more relaxed," said Porter.

“And we will have a video wall behind the players with some comments; banners around the place and just try and liven it up. We don’t want it to look sterile, even though it’ll be played in a relatively sterile environment.

“We still want the players to react and engage, show some emotions. We want the viewing public at home to feel like they’re watching a real event, as best they can.”

Success of PDC Summer Series and potential for 2021 edition?

Porter also spoke about the success of the PDC Summer Series; he said it was good to see it all come together in the end and praised those involved.

"I was really pleased; number one it was good to give the guys the chance to come back and play competitively against each other face to face so to speak again. Operationally it was good to see a plan coming together because it was a logistical challenge to get it up and running."

"The staff were excellent and the players' approach was fantastic. They were professional; they were understanding and they respected the rules, they were a credit to darts."

Those watching the action last week have called for it to potentially be a yearly addition to the calendar; with the five Players Championship events adding drama ahead of the World Matchplay; it is something the PDC is considering:

"Possibly, whether they are just before the World Matchplay or another time, it doesn't really make a huge difference. The key for us is to deliver as many Players Championship events as we can, we try to do 30 a year. But if it means it is easier to stage events, it might be something we look at again."

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