British Darts Organisation

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The British Darts Organisation, or the BDO for short, is a darts organisation. It was founded on January 7, 1973 by Olly Croft, OBE in the front room of his home in Muswell Hill. Croft formed the organisation with his wife Lorna (died June, 2003), Sam Hawkins and Jim Sweeney. The BDO is a founder member of the World Darts Federation which was formed in 1976.

The BDO comprises of 64 member counties in Britain and organises tournaments for grass roots players right the way up to professional level.

The BDO set the rules which govern the game of darts, including the size of the throwing oche (2.37m / 7ft 9 ΒΌ inches) and the height and dimensions of the board. The BDO organised the first World Professional Darts Championship in 1978, known for many years as The Embassy - due to its sponsorship by Imperial Tobacco. Its now known as the Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship - or Lakeside for short.

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[edit] Rise and Fall of Darts

After the World Championship began, televised darts became more prevalent on television with many major tournaments appearing on ITV and BBC. But by 1988, darts had lost many of its sponsors and only the World Championship remained on television. For many years, players were allowed to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes during televised matches which seemed to damage the image of the game. Darts failed to regain the lost sponsors and television exposure. The sport was famously mocked on a Not the Nine O'Clock News sketch (see video clip). The BDO had already banned cigarettes and alcohol on stage during all matches - but the image remained.

[edit] Split in the Game

Sponsors and television companies failed to return to the game and some players became frustrated by the lack of opportunity to make a living professionally. A group of 16 players (including all previous World Champions) created the World Darts Council (WDC), later the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) towards the end of 1992. They wanted to appoint a PR consultant to improve the image of the game. The 1993 Embassy World Championship was the last time all the players played in one unified competition. The WDC players wore their new insignia on their sleeves during the tournament but were told to remove them by the BDO[1]. The WDC players decided that if they were not going to be recognised by the BDO they would no longer play in the Embassy

The BDO took the step to ban the rebel players from playing in county darts and even threatened to ban any player who participated in exhibition events with WDC players[2]. This led to a long and expensive legal case which was only settled in 1997 with a Tomlin Order - the WDC had to remove the title "World" from its name (hence PDC) and the BDO were not able to enforce worldwide bans on the PDC players.

[edit] Since the Split

The existence of two World Championships since 1994 still leads to debate amongst darts followers as to which tournament is the most prestigious. There have been two head-to-head matches between the reigning champions of the two organisations. The challenge matches, held in 1999 and 2004, were not officially recognised as undisputed championship matches. On both occasions, PDC champion Phil Taylor came out successful.

The BDO suffered a blow when the UK government banned tobacco companies from sponsoring sports events in 2003 and they lost the support of Embassy, who had supported the World Championships since its inception. The owners of the tournament venue, Lakeside have stepped in to sponsor the event since 2004.

The BDO have continued to support players from the grass roots of the game since the "split", although there have been several high profile players who have made a name with the organisation only to later join the PDC. These have included former BDO World Champions, John Part, Richie Burnett, Steve Beaton and Raymond van Barneveld.

Barneveld's career in the BDO helped boost the popularity of the sport in his home country, the Netherlands. Dutch broadcaster SBS6 has broadcast the World Championship since 1998 and now shows two major BDO tournaments, the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy. Subsequently, the popularity of the sport has possibly contributed to the Dutch producing more star players including current World Champion, Jelle Klaasen and current World Masters Champion, Michael van Gerwen.

[edit] BDO Grand Slam

The annual BDO Grand Slam Title comprises the major British and Dutch televised events:

[edit] Other Major BDO Tournaments

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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