Split in darts

The split in darts refers to the acrimonious dispute between top professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), in 1993, leading to the formation of the World Darts Council (WDC). Between 1994 and 2020, each organisation held its own version of the World Professional Darts Championship.

The split was prompted by the game's big decline in television coverage in 1989 and the early 1990s, and by what the players saw as the BDO's inability to reverse that decline. The dispute culminated in the 16 top ranked players - including every previous world champion who was still active - breaking away from the BDO to form the WDC.

The BDO responded by banning the 16 defectors from all BDO-sanctioned darts events, which included prohibition of remaining BDO affiliated players from even engaging in exhibition matches against any of the defectors. At the BDO's behest, this was endorsed at a World Darts Federation meeting and became a worldwide sanction.

A long-running legal battle followed and ended with a Tomlin order in 1997. The BDO recognised the WDC and the right of players to choose which organisation they played for. In return, the WDC recognised the World Darts Federation as the governing body of world darts, the BDO as the governing body of UK darts, and renamed itself the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).

The BDO folded into administration in October 2020, the WDF took over control of BDO events.[1]

Before the split

Darts first appeared on British television in 1962 when Westward Television broadcast the Westward TV Invitational to the south-west of England. 1972 was a big year for darts when ITV started broadcasting the News of the World Championship. Also in 1972 was the start of The Indoor League, which featured a darts tournament, although it was only shown in the Yorkshire Television region in 1972. The Indoor League was shown across Britain on the ITV network from 1973 onwards.

The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was formed in 1973 by Olly Croft. The BDO became the governing body of the game in the United Kingdom and would organise darts events for grassroots players right through to the best players in the world.

Gradually televised events began to appear more regularly as the 1970s went on and into the 1980s. ITV broadcast the World Masters, British Matchplay, the World Matchplay, the World Cup and other International competitions – particularly on its Saturday afternoon sports anthology show World of Sport.

The first darts tournament broadcast by the BBC was the 1975 British Open. When the World Championship began in 1978, the BBC picked up the event and also went on to cover the Bullseye Darts Championship, British Gold Cup, British Professional Championship and others in later years.

The mass of coverage and amount of prize money in the game led to several players turning professional – now able to make a full-time living from the game.

Decline in the game

Darts players were allowed to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes on the stage during matches, a reflection of the game's roots in British pubs. This behaviour by players was mocked in a Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch in 1980 at the height of darts' popularity.

The peak of the darts boom was reached in 1983, when there were more televised darts tournaments than ever before. After 1983, professional darts in Britain began to haemorrhage sponsors and lose television coverage. In 1984, the British Gold Cup (BBC), Butlins Grand Masters (ATV) and British Matchplay (ITV) all stopped being televised as programmes in their own right, although this negative news was partially offset by the creation of the MFI World Matchplay. In September 1985, a big blow came when ITV decided to cancel its World of Sport show which had covered darts events on a regular basis. ITV continued to show darts as programmes in their own right over the next 3 years, but events in the second half of 1988 would rock professional darts to its foundations.

In the summer of 1988, the BBC announced that they would be dropping nearly all of their darts coverage after the 1988 British Professional, but wanted to keep broadcasting the World Championship. In October 1988, after the transmission of the 1988 MFI World Matchplay on ITV, ITV announced that they would be withdrawing from all darts coverage at the end of the year, and their final tournament broadcast was the 1988 World Masters. As part of this, the ITV regional channels that covered local darts tournaments cancelled all of them at the end of 1988. As a result of these sudden catastrophic events, 1989 saw a very drastic slump in the amount of darts seen on TV, down to just one tournament, the World Championship.

The BDO banned alcohol on stage during all matches from the 1989 World Championship, but the game maintained a poor image to sponsors.

Players' unrest

Even during the years from 1975 to 1988, when darts was either booming and/or had plenty of prize money and television coverage, there was a certain discontent bubbling under the surface amongst some of the top players, particularly with John Lowe. These issues were about why players lost money whenever they played for their country, why players had no say whatsoever in the running of darts, and why players would be prevented from wearing their personal sponsors on their shirts during tournaments, and also forced to wear BDO sponsors. Lowe mentions in his autobiography, entitled Old Stoneface, that he was prevented from wearing his sponsor Unicorn on his shirt during tournaments, and was compelled to allow Unicorn's rivals Winmau to be put on his shirt instead for free. Lowe mentions that he and some other players would hold meetings with the BDO about these issues, but that nothing really changed. Due to the widespread television coverage and the prize money in darts at this time, any confrontations between the complainants and the BDO, never became too serious until 1988, when all remaining darts tournaments on television, except the World Championship, were getting cancelled after being held for the last time.

Many players had become full-time professionals during darts' peak years in the 1980s, and the big sudden drop in the amount of darts television coverage in 1989 left them with very little prize money to play for. It also meant a lack of exposure, which would make it very tough for them to make a living from exhibition matches. The top players felt that not enough was being done by the BDO to encourage new sponsors into their sport and television coverage should be greater than just one event per year.

In August 1988, a pressure group named the Darts Council had been formed by some top players and their agents, due to their concern about the imminent disappearance of darts television coverage. After over 3 years of internal pressure from the Darts Council had failed to produce any noticeable results from the BDO hierarchy, 16 professional players, including every previous BDO World Champion who was still active in the game, created their own darts organisation originally named the World Darts Council (WDC) in January 1992.[2] They wanted to appoint a public relations consultant to improve the image of the game and to get more tournaments on television. The WDC staged their first televised event in October 1992 (the Lada UK Masters on Anglia Television).

The final straw which had led to the decision to form the World Darts Council in January 1992 was the BDO's quick release of a VHS videotape which featured extended highlights of the 1992 Embassy World Championship Final between Phil Taylor and Mike Gregory. The videotape also featured brief highlights of the 1983, 1985 and 1987 Embassy World Championship Finals featuring Eric Bristow, John Lowe and Keith Deller, as well as Paul Lim's 9-dart finish from the 1990 Embassy World Championship. None of the featured players, nor their agents, were offered payment for the release of the VHS videotape.

According to Bristow, he approached Croft on behalf of the WDC players shortly before the 1993 Embassy World Championship to air the players' concerns.

I said, "Ollie, can you give us more than one tournament a year on TV?"

"No," he said.

"OK," I replied. Would you mind if we ran our own tournaments on TV, because our livelihood is being affected here?"

"Yes, I would mind," he said.

"OK, if we did run our own tournaments on television, what would happen?"

"You'll be banned."[3]

The 1993 World Championship
The WDC badge worn at the 1993 World Championship.

The 1993 Embassy World Championship was the last time that all the players played in one unified world darts championship. The WDC players wore their new insignia on their sleeves during the tournament, but were told to remove them by the BDO.[4] The WDC players decided that if they were not going to be recognised by the BDO they would no longer play in the Embassy tournament. The BDO did not allow the WDC players to set up their own tournaments and the players decided to go their own way.

On 7 January 1993, the 16 WDC players released a statement saying that they would only participate in the 1994 Embassy World Championship if it came under the auspices of the WDC, and that they only recognised the WDC as having the authority to sanction their participation in darts tournaments worldwide. On 24 January 1993, a couple of weeks after the 1993 Embassy World Championship had ended, the BDO responded by suspending the 16 "rebel" players from all BDO tournaments on British soil.

The 16 WDC players who signed the 7 January 1993 statement were:

The list included every previous world darts champion, with the exception of Leighton Rees, the first world champion from 1978, who was not an active player when the split happened.

The "defectors"

Satellite broadcaster Sky Sports, which had not existed during the decline of the game, was beginning to become a viable option, following the creation of football's Premier League. In 1993, Sky Sports and the WDC signed a deal to exclusively cover the WDC's version of the World Championship and the World Matchplay from 1994.

However, there was trouble ahead. Chris Johns had gone back to the BDO before the TV deal with Sky Sports was announced in order to play in a Welsh international game. In late November 1993, just 4 weeks before the first WDC World Darts Championship was due to get underway, Mike Gregory had a change of heart and was persuaded to return to the BDO. The remaining 14 players managed to remain united under pressure in the weeks following and got their own version of the World Championship off the ground for 1994, with a-24 player field. This consisted of the 14 remaining "rebel" players, Englishmen Graeme Stoddart and Kevin Burrows replacing Chris Johns and Mike Gregory, 7 American players Larry Butler, Jim Watkins, Sean Downs, Gerald Verrier, Jerry Umberger, Dave Kelly, Steve Brown and Irishman Tom Kirby. The BDO event continued with a largely unknown field – although Bobby George produced a resurgent performance to reach the final. The BDO held on to their contract with the BBC to show the event on terrestrial television and began to bring through a new generation of players.

On 25 April 1993, at a meeting in Finchley, the BDO took the step of turning the suspension of the WDC players from playing in any BDO-run tournaments on British soil, into a full-scale ban on the WDC players from being able to play any BDO-sanctioned darts, even down to county level. The BDO also passed a motion which said that any BDO players who participated in exhibition events with WDC players, would also be banned from the BDO. The BDO passed the following motions at the 25 April 1993 Finchley meeting:

  • Any British Darts Organisation official, or British Darts Organisation player, who is associated with the activities of the World Darts Council shall forfeit the right to organise, attend or participate in any events under the jurisdiction of the British Darts Organisation, or its members, until written undertaking is given that they are no longer associated with the World Darts Council or its activities. Motion passed by 57 votes for to 0 votes against.
  • All member counties shall refrain from attending, or assisting in, any exhibitions involving the 16 players named in the World Darts Council statement of 7 January 1993, any players who have affiliated to the World Darts Council since that date, and any players who may affiliate to the World Darts Council in the future. Motion passed by 54 votes for to 1 vote against.
  • All member counties shall exclude any players who are affiliated to the World Darts Council from darts events under their jurisdiction. Motion passed by 60 votes for to 0 votes against.

On 18 October 1993, at a WDF meeting in Las Vegas, the BDO sought to have their bans on the WDC players officially ratified and set in stone on a world scale in the WDF rules, and the Welsh WDF representative moved the motion that the WDC players be referred to as the "former top players". The motion passed by 24 votes for to 3 votes against.

Two countries who voted against the motion at the Las Vegas meeting, the USA and Canada, were the only two countries whose WDF affiliates refused to sanction the ban even after the vote, saying that what they were being asked to do was against their countries' constitutions, and would therefore be breaking the law. The WDC took advantage of this to invite 7 American darts players to play in the 1994 WDC World Darts Championship.

According to Sid Waddell, "The BDO's use of the phrase 'associating with' WDC people had become a licence for every little witch-finder in every nook and cranny of their organisation. Whatever Croft and his allies in Muswell Hill intended, between the Finchley meeting in spring 1993 and the pre-court case proceedings in 1997 some terrible things were being reported."[5] Pub teams were warned they faced a ban from competitions if their pubs hosted exhibitions by the rebel players; Phil Taylor's cousin, a Staffordshire county player, was warned not to associate with him; some officials lost their jobs after taking part in WDC events. WDC players were prevented from playing county matches.[6] One zealous BDO official tried to document members of the audience at a Rod Harrington exhibition so they could be banned."[5] Waddell himself, who was sympathetic to the WDC players and helped them set up some of their early tournaments, recalled being treated "like a pariah" at the 1994 BDO world championship.[7]

This started a four-year legal battle, with the WDC players fighting to overturn the worldwide ban imposed by the BDO and the WDF, which effectively left them unable to earn a living from darts. They argued that the BDO enjoyed an unfair monopoly on organising events, and that the BDO's actions were "unlawful [and] imposed unfairly, in breach of the BDO's own rules". They further argued that the ban constituted an unlawful restraint on trade, in violation of European Union law.[8] In total, the action would cost the WDC around £80,000.[9] At one point, Dick Allix had to arrange an emergency £20,000 loan to cover legal fees.[10] John Raby, Tommy Cox and the players themselves all contributed their own money towards the legal expenses.

On 30 June 1997, days before the case reached the High Court, the BDO and the WDC representatives reached a compromise in the form of a Tomlin order.[11]The Guardian summarized: "the BDO lost its case".[12] The judge agreed that the right of the WDC players to carry out of their profession as darts players had been unreasonably restricted.[6] The BDO lifted the worldwide ban on the WDC players, recognized the WDC and its right to stage professional competitions, and agreed that all players could freely participate in tournaments and exhibitions. In return, the WDC dropped their claim for damages and agreed to remove the word 'world' from their name, renaming themselves the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The PDC recognized the WDF as the governing body for darts worldwide, and the BDO the governing body for darts in the UK.

Speaking afterwards, Eric Bristow called it "a great day for the sport of darts". He added, "for the first time in four years I am free to play darts in competitions all over the world... this action was never about money but our freedom to play who we liked on a local or international level, and where we liked." Olly Croft said he was "not disappointed" by the result. He confirmed there would continue to be two world championships, but "our champion will be champion of half a million players throughout the world. Theirs will be champion of 20-odd."[13]

Player eligibility

Despite the Tomlin Order, eligibility for tournaments was somewhat complicated and possibly controversial. Initially, some BDO players took the opportunity to play in the PDC World Matchplay between 1997 and 2001, and in the PDC World Grand Prix from 1998 to 2001 – but since the start of 2002, entry to these tournaments and most other PDC majors has been restricted to members of the Professional Dart Players Association, which looks after PDC players. Most PDC tournaments are now usually restricted to members of the PDPA.

To play in a BDO / WDF tournament, a player had to agree to comply with the rules of the 1997 Tomlin Order and remain eligible for the BDO World Masters and World Championship, which effectively meant not become a member of the PDPA. Players therefore usually had to choose whether to be affiliated to the PDC or the BDO and stay within the jurisdiction of that organisation.

However, there are notable exceptions. PDPA Players Championships and Open events often allowed residents of the host country to participate regardless of being a PDPA member or not. This leads to anomalies such as Michael van Gerwen winning the PDC Open Holland in 2006 whilst being a BDO player at the time.

Another exception is made for major Dutch televised tournaments. They were previously staged under BDO / WDF qualification rules, but when the most famous Dutch player Raymond van Barneveld switched to the PDC, the tournament organisers insisted on inviting PDC players. An agreement was made with the BDO to allow a number of PDC wildcards for each event. Three more top Dutch players joined the PDC in January 2007 which added more confusion to player eligibility rules for these events. (see International Darts League and World Darts Trophy)

The Grand Slam of Darts (organised by the PDC) was the first major tournament staged in the United Kingdom to feature players from both sides of the darting divide. Inaugurated in 2007 it also featured a return to darts broadcasting for ITV and in 2008 was broadcast exclusively live on ITV4. Players who reached the latter stages of all the major PDC and BDO tournaments over a two-year period were invited, and all but one (the then BDO World Champion Martin Adams) accepted the invitation until 2015. Phil Taylor won the competition in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. BDO member Scott Waites won the title in 2010.

Standing of organisations

After the split

The first WDC world championship featured most of the top ranked darts players, including every previous world champion. As The Independent put it in 1994: "though the [BDO] event has much the greater pool of competitors, it is the [WDC event] which involves just about every darts player you have ever heard of."[14] However, the BDO world championship was the older and more established event, and more familiar to the British public owing to the BBC's annual coverage of the tournament. Moreover, several WDC players, including Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller and Cliff Lazarenko, had all been in a downward spiral of form for a few years. Until the resolution of the court case against the BDO, the PDC tournament was a closed shop whose aim was survival. Once the case was settled, they could focus on expansion.

As BDO and PDC-affiliated players only faced each other infrequently, the strength and standing of the two organisations was ambiguous. The PDC claimed to have the best players, while the BDO pointed to its much larger worldwide membership and grassroots operations.[15] Dan Waddell wrote: "for a number of years after the split and beyond, the issue of which code was the strongest and which World Championship was best was a source of passionate debate among darts and sports fans. In those first WDC worlds, there is no doubt they had the finer, more talented top eight, most of whom would have been seeded in a unified game. But where the BDO had the edge was in depth of talent: players who had qualified for the Embassy and were excellent performers in county and international darts, who made the tournament tougher than the WDC equivalent for the higher seeds".[16]

PDC vs BDO

Phil Taylor was generally regarded as the best player across both organisations in the 1990s and 2000s, and by some as the greatest darts player ever. In a special "Battle of the Champions" event in 1997, Taylor beat Richie Burnett, the 1995 BDO champion, 4–1 in sets.[17] The same card featured a match between the respective 1994 champions, Dennis Priestley (PDC) and John Part (BDO). Priestley won 3–0 in sets. In a 1999 face-off dubbed "the match of the century", Taylor defeated Raymond van Barneveld, the 1998 and 1999 BDO champion, 21–10 in legs.[18] In 2004, Taylor defeated Andy Fordham, the reigning BDO champion, in another challenge match broadcast on Sky Sports pay-per-view.[19]

In 2005, Taylor and van Barneveld, both reigning world champions, met again in the cross-code Masters of Darts semi-finals; Taylor won 5–2 in sets. In the group stages of the same event, Taylor also beat Tony David, the 2002 BDO champion, 4–0 in sets. In 2006 and 2007, PDC players were invited to the BDO/WDF-run World Darts Trophy. Taylor won the 2006 event and lost in the 2007 final to Gary Anderson. At the 2007 International Darts League, Martin Adams, the reigning BDO champion, lost 6–2 to Adrian Lewis. The event was won by Anderson, who beat two players ranked in the PDC's top 12 en route.[20]

The PDC's Grand Slam of Darts, established in 2007, was the first major darts tournament held in Britain to feature players from both the PDC and BDO. In the 2008 event Mark Webster, the reigning BDO champion, defeated PDC World Champion John Part 10–2 in legs in their second round match. The BDO's Scott Waites won the 2010 event and was runner-up to Taylor in the 2009 event. Waites was the only BDO representative to reach the Grand Slam final. When Waites played in the 2016 edition as reigning BDO champion, he lost all three group matches.[21]

Players who moved from the BDO to the PDC enjoyed varied fortunes. In 2003, John Part, the 1994 BDO world champion, won the PDC world championship with a 7–6 final victory over Taylor, becoming the first player to win both versions of the world title after the split.[22] Raymond van Barneveld became the second in 2007. Glen Durrant, three-time BDO world champion, won the Premier League in 2020.[23] However, other former Lakeside champions had less success in the PDC: Richie Burnett, Steve Beaton, Jelle Klaasen, Mark Webster, Christian Kist, Scott Mitchell, Ted Hankey and Stephen Bunting all failed to win a major event in the PDC.

Widening gap and defections

In 2001, Barry Hearn became PDC chairman. Under Hearn's management, the PDC Pro Tour was established, more major televised tournaments were added and prizemoney on the PDC circuit increased from £500,000 per year in 2001 to over £10 million per year in 2021.[24][25] In 2002, the PDC world championship overtook the BDO event as the richest darts tournament in the world. In 2015, the PDC world championship had a prize fund of £1.25 million, with £250,000 for the winner, compared with a prize fund of £339,000 in the BDO and £100,000 for the winner.[26] Hearn also introduced new eligibility rules, effectively meaning that players wishing to play in most major PDC events had to switch to the PDC.

Meanwhile, the BDO stagnated and began to lose ground to the PDC; annual profits stood at £16,929 in 2008, compared with over £1 million for the PDC.[27] They were the subject of a failed takeover bid by the PDC in 2009. In 2011, the BDO board were criticized by the membership in an open letter for lagging behind the PDC in terms of sponsorship, television coverage and new ideas.[28] Its perceived lower standard of play was also the subject of derision from some quarters.[21][29][30] In 2016, the BBC ended its coverage of the BDO World Championship, replacing it with a new PDC tournament, the Champions League of Darts.[31]

Consequently, a large number of the BDO's top players, including most of its former champions, "defected" to the PDC, sometimes in contentious circumstances.[32] In 2001, six prominent BDO players, among them 1996 champion Steve Beaton, announced they would be playing in the PDC version of the world championship that year.[33] In 2006, in what was described as a “massive coup”, Raymond van Barneveld moved to the PDC. Van Barneveld said he was switching for the challenge and to "compete against the best players in the world, including the best, Phil Taylor."[34] In 2007, another three top Dutch players - Jelle Klaasen, Michael van Gerwen and Vincent van der Voort - moved to the PDC.[35] By 2015, the BDO was described as "mostly an unwilling feeder to the PDC: most of its biggest stars... jump ship given the chance."[26] In January 2019, Glen Durrant switched to the PDC, shortly after winning his third consecutive BDO World Championship.[36]

Dan Waddell wrote in 2017:

The Great Darts War is now over. The PDC stands victorious. Their "brand" sells out arenas designed to host stadium-swallowing rock bands, they have the best players in the world under their banner and quickly attract the best newcomers from across the divide who see a chance to make money on the professional circuit. The BDO continues to do a fine job promoting amateur darts, but its professional game is lacklustre, kept afloat only by Bob Potter's largesse and some half-hearted BBC TV coverage. It's a dated, muted relic of the vibrant, raucous tournament it once was. The BDO try to offer their professionals and top-end players tournaments and opportunities to compete, but even they know the game is up and that the flow of talent to the PDC is a tide that can't be turned.[37]

PDC bid to take over BDO

On 21 October 2009, Barry Hearn made a bid of £1 million to purchase the BDO.[38] It was the first time that a formal offer had been made public to end the 17-year split between the two organisations. However, later in the day, BDO founder Olly Croft rejected the proposal.[39] A few months after the takeover offer and in the aftermath of the two organisations' 2010 World Championships, it was revealed and understood that the county organisations had asked the BDO board to consider the offer more seriously.[40]

BDO lifting of PDC restrictions

On 23 August 2018, under new chairman Des Jacklin, the BDO made the decision to modify their eligibility rules.[41] All PDC tour card holders were now permitted to enter BDO events, with the rule changes coming into effect on 1 October of the same year. The decision was made to allow female players to enter the PDC Ladies play-offs (for two spots in the PDC World Championship) without the loss of status in the BDO. This rule change also allows all players that compete in the BDO to enter the PDC Q-School without penalty. The PDPA still retains all streaming/television restrictions on PDPA tour card holders in non-PDC sanctioned events.[42]

See also

References
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  2. Professional Darts Corporation. "History". PDC.tv. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  3. Bristow, Eric (2010). The Crafty Cockney: the Autobiography. London: Arrow. p. 265. ISBN 9780099532798.
  4. History of Darts
  5. Waddell, Sid (2008). Bellies and bullseyes : the outrageous true story of darts. London: Ebury. p. 207-208. ISBN 9780091917562.
  6. Lowe, John (2009). "13". Old Stoneface: My Autobiography. London: John Blake. ISBN 9781782195719.
  7. Waddell, Sid (2008). Bellies and bullseyes : the outrageous true story of darts. London: Ebury. p. 196. ISBN 9780091917562.
  8. "Top darts players go to court over world boycott". The Times. 24 June 1997.
  9. Waddell, Sid (2008). Bellies and bullseyes : the outrageous true story of darts. London: Ebury. p. 215. ISBN 9780091917562.
  10. "25 Years On - The Split". pdc.tv.
  11. Extracts from Tomlin order (see page 13 Word Document)
  12. Waddell, Sid (2008). Bellies and bullseyes : the outrageous true story of darts. London: Ebury. p. 217. ISBN 9780091917562.
  13. "Darts stars let freedom go to their stomachs". The Times. 1 July 1997. p. 11.
  14. "Darts: Bristow leads the dance to a new beat: Greg Wood sees the breakaway World Darts Council embark on its first world championship in riverside Essex in an atmosphere more familiar at ringside". The Independent.
  15. "Barbed arrows as worlds stop and start". The Guardians. 5 January 2002.
  16. Waddell, Dan (2017). We had some laughs. London: Corgi. pp. 242–243. ISBN 9780552172141.
  17. Waddell, Sid (2008). Bellies and bullseyes: the outrageous true story of darts. London: Ebury. p. 218. ISBN 9780091917562.
  18. "Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld played out one of darts' all-time great rivalries". Dartsnews. 17 October 2018.
  19. "Taylor wins as Fordham withdraws". BBC. 21 November 2004.
  20. "IDL Finalists Accept Grand Slam Invitations". Planet Darts. 7 January 2007.
  21. "The Joy of Six: flawed sporting competitions". The Guardian. 2 December 2016.
  22. "Part relishes Taylor triumph". BBC. 6 January 2003.
  23. "Premier League: Glen Durrant says PDC switch 'worthwhile' after tournament success". BBC. 16 October 2020.
  24. "Barry Hearn OBE inducted into PDC hall of fame". pdc.tv. 25 January 2021.
  25. "Barry Hearn: 'My job is to make darts a global sport'". GQ Magazine. 14 July 2021.
  26. BDO world championship is a faltering relic that's worth clinging on to
  27. "PDC make BDO offer". pdc.tv. 20 October 2009.
  28. "Open Letter to BDO Counties". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2011.
  29. Bristow, Eric [@ericbristow] (3 January 2015). "Will anyone get a100 average in the Amateur Darts Round 1 at Frimley Green" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  30. "This clip of the most excruciating three darts ever thrown is a timely reminder of brilliance of PDC". JOE.co.uk. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  31. "Champions League of Darts: BBC to broadcast inaugural tournament". BBC. 9 February 2016.
  32. "King threatened with legal action for switch of loyalties". The Guardian. 7 February 2007.
  33. "Embassy hit by defections". BBC Sport. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  34. "Barneveld switches to face Taylor". BBC Sport. 15 February 2006. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  35. "Dutch trio defect to PDC circuit". BBC Sport. 15 January 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  36. ""No sadness" at leaving BDO for Glen Durrant". Darts News. 25 January 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  37. Waddell, Dan (2017). We had some laughs. London: Corgi. p. 242. ISBN 9780552172141.
  38. PDC Make BDO Offer Archived 2009-10-23 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts.tv
  39. BDO founder rejects takeover by Barry Hearn's PDC guardian.co.uk
  40. BDO chief Olly Croft is 'working on' PDC's takeover bid bbc.co.uk
  41. "Winmau - BDO Announce Lift on Player Restrictions - Winmau Dartboard Company". winmau.com. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
  42. https://www.live-darts.com/category/bdo-darts-news/bdo-lift-sanctions-on-pdc-players-20180822/
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