With most live sports currently cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has announced it will be launching 32 consecutive nights of live darts on Friday, the PDC Home Tour.
The Tour, which will now become the first-ever PDC home-staged event, will see ‘elite level darts’ showcased live from the living rooms of professional darts players and broadcast to fans worldwide through live video calls.
All Tour Card Holders have been given the opportunity to take part in the home-staged event which will be competed in the form of a nightly four-man league format.
Four players will be in action every night, with every competitor playing each other once in matches played over the best of nine legs, with a winner crowned each night.
PDC Chairman Barry Hearn commented: “Firstly, I would like to thank all our incredible NHS staff who continue to save lives in the most difficult circumstances, we all owe an immense amount of gratitude to our key workers.
“It gives me great excitement that we are able to deliver live darts to fans in these unprecedented times.
“We’ve spent the last few weeks planning and looking at what is possible, and I’m delighted to be able to present a concept which gives all Tour Card Holders the opportunity to take part.
“The PDC Home Tour will provide a regular supply of live sport to fans, showcasing the talent and unique characters of our players to both existing and new audiences.
“The event will also give players a chance to play competitive darts in this down period in preparation for the return to normal action, whenever that may be.”
Each night’s action will begin as from 7:30pm BST, with darts commentator Dan Dawson also on hand to talk viewers through proceedings. Live score graphics will also be provided on screen.
Regarding the broadcasting of the contest, the Tour will be available for fans on PDCTV for FREE to all registered PDCTV users. Moreover the action will also be shown live through a series of bookmakers’ websites.
Following the conclusion of the initial 32 nights of league phase action, the 32 group winners will advance to the second phase of the competition.
The 16 players set to compete across the first four nights of the Home Tour are set to be announced later this week via the PDC’s official website and social media channels.
Insider Insight: The PDC Home Tour follows on from the success seen in the ‘Darts At Home’ series which saw nine PDC players, including Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting, compete live on the PDC’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The ‘Darts At Home’ series was also featured on Sky Sports News giving the sport an increased outreach due to it being one of the only sports to provide live broadcasts during the current health crisis and as a result, the PDC will no doubt be hoping its Home Tour capitalises on the apparent demand for live sports.
