Ultimate Team with Darts Stars: No Ronaldo in your package but Van Gerwen, Van Barneveld or Taylor

In FIFA you have a game mode called Ultimate Team, in which you can collect player cards from football stars. You can draft those players in your FIFA Ultimate Team. The design of those cards is now used by Jaco van Bodegom, also known in the world of darts as the manager of Raymond van Barneveld, to have Ultimate Darts cards designed for players.

Van Bodegom came up with the concept after seeing a photo of a little kid on Instagram with his own FIFA card. "I thought that was funny and I wanted to have it made for my godchild. Two days later I received it and the boy was very proud. He asked me to share a photo of it with 'my 300 followers' on Instagram.''

The Dutch agent tagged the employer of the company where the cards are made. ''He sent me a thank you message and then I thought it was great fun to do something like that in darts. I find the merchandise in darts a bit boring and it gave me a very positive feeling. It is also interesting for a darts player to earn some money, especially now when it's more difficult for some darts players to earn more money [due to the coronavirus].''

"Players receive a package from us with a hundred small cards for free. They can do whatever they want with it. For example hand out or selling them with a signature. The darts players can really use this positive attention.''

He immediately had two designs designed for Raymond van Barneveld and Phil Taylor, which were handed over to the two darts icons during Barney's farewell evening. "They really enjoyed it and then we decided to start working on it. We spoke to Michael van Gerwen, Wayne Mardle and Target (darts manufacturer) and everyone is just really excited.''

Initially, Van Bodegom wanted to talk to the PDC about a collaboration, but after consultation with various parties, he decided to arrange it himself with the players and darts manufacturers.

"Of course we had to made a deal. If I had gone to the PDC, they would have made money and only the smallest part of the profit would have been left for the players. Van Gerwen told me in a conversation that the portrait rights belong to the players themselves.''

"Then we came to the conclusion that it might be useful to do it through the manufacturers so that you have all the players of a specific brand. I then spoke to Target and they were also enthusiastic. We start now with Michael van Gerwen and all Target world champions and eventually I want to do it for all professional players.''

From players who receive their own Ultimate Darts card, different designs will be made after some time. ''The idea is that every player gets one card each year, with eventually their new darts, new shirts and statistics. That is attractive for players because fans want to buy a new card. We are also working on Limited Editions for special achievements. We can go in all directions with that.''

When asked if Van Bodegom could give a sneak peak, he said: ''Michael van Gerwen will come with something nice on his birthday (April 25). We will also do something with Raymond and Phil soon.''

Amateur darts player can also create and customize their own Ultimate Darts card soon. ''Then they can upload their photo themselves and fill in the statistics. For example which pub they playing for and their favourite finish. The Sky is the Limit.''

Despite the link of the concept with FIFA, Van Bodegom himself has nothing with the Ultimate Team game mode. "I am not so patient and I'm a bad loser. When I play Ultimate Team and I only get crappy players, my Xbox and television will fly out the door. So it is not smart to start with that'', Van Bodegom joked. "Although the concept is fantastic of course'', he added.