How darts became popular in Germany

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Created: 15.06.2022Updated: 06/15/2022, 08:17 am

Von: Michael Nickolas

Split

Werner von Moltke (51) made darts popular in Germany. In the interview, the head of the PDC Europe talks about an initially fixed idea, key experiences and the recipe for success.

Werner von Moltke, you originally worked in the media industry. What prompted you to bring darts to Germany one day?

In 2005 I was on a skiing holiday with my family, my son had just been born, so apres-ski was canceled accordingly, and in the evenings I got stuck watching the darts broadcast on TV. That fascinated me. Back in Munich I organized a show event with Phil Taylor for everyone. Taylor was enthusiastic and really wanted to introduce me to Barry Hearn, the head of the PDC in England. And so a week later I was on the plane to the island and Hearn asked me if I could imagine taking over the PDC representation for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the beginning there were only tournaments for players, with 50 to 60 boards, but without spectators. We didn’t have a stage and nothing at all. In 2006 I started my own business and since 2008 we have been responsible for continental Europe.

Where did you see potential?

The sport is very quick and easy to understand, unlike cricket or baseball, for example, which first has to be explained to 80 million people. In principle, everyone has seen a dartboard before. The most common question was about the triple 20 as the highest throwing square because everyone thought that was the bully’s eye. Then there are the characters, and the way the events were set up. That appealed to me and that’s why I bet on this card.

Nevertheless, staying power was certainly necessary. When did the breakthrough come?

I have to name two key events. In 2008 we dared to go on TV for the first time with the tournament in Frankfurt in the Südbahnhof. On Thursdays we only had 20 spectators in the hall, we lured 20 more with free beer in front of the street. But the cameras captured it well. The first TV broadcast to Great Britain was a milestone for us. The breakthrough came in 2011 with the European Darts Championships in Düsseldorf, when we were able to sell over 10,000 tickets.

The occasional fan knows the Darts World Cup around the turn of the year in London. How can it be possible to anchor darts in people’s minds outside of these two weeks?

We must – and this is fundamentally our goal – offer people a good time and great entertainment. It’s no different at street fairs and wine festivals and festivals. Everyone wants to have fun with friends, and that works in both summer and winter. The location for the Team World Cup has proven itself and established itself. The players love to come there.

Where do you see the line between a pub crawl and sport?

What is offered on stage is tough sport. There’s a lot of money at stake, there’s meticulous attention to the framework conditions. The people in the hall want to have fun, that’s why they bought tickets. They stage themselves, it’s comparable to choreographies in football stadiums. But the public must also be offered good sport, otherwise it won’t work. The driving energy comes from the stage. You notice that in a negative sense when the average drops in the competition, but it also shows up in a positive way when the hall goes crazy with a nine-darter.

Darts is a member of the German Olympic Sports Association. Will we ever see dart throwers at the Olympics?

Olympia is great. But darts grew up without the Olympics. And in my eyes, these games are also crimes against the athletes. They sacrifice many years of their lives for a career, hoping for that one appearance every four years in order to get into the limelight, but see nothing of the billions that are made with it. That’s unfair, but many sports are caught in their structures. Sure, the audience thinks the entertainment every four years is great, but the classic Olympic sports such as swimming, gymnastics and athletics are less and less noticed outside of the games. Who still knows the German champion over 100 meters today? It was different when I was younger. We as the PDC have nothing to do with associations. We have no youth centers, no state associations or national coaches. We are a private company that provides darts with the infrastructure to practice the sport as a profession in which we host tournaments. How the athletes organize, travel and train is up to them.

Darts is initially associated with Great Britain. They organize tournaments in Europe. Which markets are on the rise here?

We are already represented in many countries, in the Netherlands, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and most recently successfully in Belgium. We see potential in all directions. In Portugal and Spain as well as Scandinavia or Eastern Europe. Only in France are we struggling.

What is the new reality like after or with the corona pandemic? What can viewers expect in Frankfurt?

We have a higher no-show rate than before Corona. There is a certain skepticism among some people. Those who come, however, let it rip. Where the path leads remains to be seen. And it’s about offering the best possible sport, providing the appropriate infrastructure and providing good entertainment.