Many sports fans would consider football to be the most popular global sport, with teams such as Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona having followers on every continent.
Darts is also fast becoming a global phenomena, its popularity and fan base is growing rapidly in countries across europe – perhaps most of all in Germany, and the USA as well as registering upturns in India and China who have most recently seen a growth in interest.
Fans travel far and wide to watch their favourite players and have more and more opportunities to do so.
The most expensive football club in the Premier League to follow is this season’s surprise package Arsenal, with a price of a season ticket at the Emirates costing £1859 per season.
The Gunners have the second most expensive pints in the league, with a drink costing £6.35 on a matchday. Only Arsenal’s London rivals West Ham are more expensive with a pint at the London Stadium coming in at £7.60!
In fact, the top 4 most expensive clubs in the Premier League all originate from London, with Arsenal’s North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur the most expensive season ticket in the league, a whopping £2025 for 19 matches. Spurs also have the most expensive kit in the league costing £75, a mere 5 pence more than 2-time Champions League winners Chelsea.
Darts biggest competition: the World Darts Championship plays out every year from the Alexandra Palace, which like Arsenal and Tottenham is located in North London.
For a ticket to the recent World Final between Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen, it cost £75 for a table ticket and a tier ticket was £65. A tier ticket for the World Final was £16 more expensive than going to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a standard matchday.
The Premier League Darts will host its Finals Night at the O2 Arena on the 25th of May, a Thursday where 4 of the best players will fight it out for £275,000. Seats further from the main stage are costing £31.50 and resale tickets nearer the action at £41.62 as the most expensive available.
A pint of Coors Light is the cheapest available pint at the O2 Arena with the American lager priced at £5. The most expensive is Brooklyn Lager and Brewdog IPA which costs £6, and in comparison, with the London football clubs is £1.60 cheaper than West Ham, whilst being more expensive than both Chelsea and Spurs.
On the PDC Website, to buy a Michael van Gerwen custom shirt it costs £47.95, costing £7.05 less than a football shirt from Brighton and Hove Albion. A home kit at Spurs costs £27.05 more than an MVG darts shirt, with shirts for other players such as Gerwyn Price and World Champion Michael Smith costing around £40.
The most expensive non-London club to follow in the Premier League is the defending champions Manchester City, with a season ticket costing £75 more than huge rivals Manchester United.
A pint at the Etihad Stadium is also more expensive than United with City charging £5.60 for a drink in comparison to the Red Devils, who have the cheapest in the entire league at just £3.
The Premier League Darts visited Manchester for Night 14, a night where Michael Smith beat Jonny Clayton to secure his place at Finals Night. To attend the AO Arena, ticket prices were starting at £30 which is half the cost of going to both Old Trafford and the Etihad on 1 matchday.
But the AO Arena charged £8.45 for a beer which in comparison with Manchester United is a staggering £5.45 more.
United’s biggest rivals Leeds United were promoted to the Premier League during the COVID period, successfully surviving a relegation fight last season whilst being involved in a similar situation this current campaign.
A season ticket at Elland Road came in at £438 (the cheapest price) for another season in the country’s topflight, with the most expensive at £646.
The Premier League Darts returned to Leeds in 2023 for Night 13, with the competition kick starting in Yorkshire during the 2016 campaign. The First Direct Arena played host, with a ticket costing between £42 and £50 for a table and £25-27 for the tiers.
The prices are actually very similar for darts and football in Leeds, with tickets costing £26 for some areas of Elland Road and £44 in others. You could argue you get more value for money at a darts night because it lasts longer but yet again there is no better feeling when your football team wins!
Former European winners Aston Villa are the 10th most expensive team to follow, with it costing £752 to watch 19 matches at Villa Park.
To go to just the one match at Aston Villa, its costs £40.50 for a ticket, with a pint costing £5.20. If you compare this with Night 10 of the Premier League Darts in Birmingham, it costs £9.70 less to go to a night at the arrows in comparison to a trip to Villa Park.
In relation to pint prices, it costs less to have a drink at the football in comparison to the darts with a pint at the most recent night at the Utilita Arena costing £7.10, which is £1.90 more than at Aston Villa.
Following the elite events in any sport will inevitably separate you from some of your hard earned money. It seems pretty clear that basic tickets are cheaper for darts fans whether it’s for the World Championships or their own Premier League. Replica merchandise is also cheaper in general for those who follow the tungsten warriors.
However, with some very good value season tickets to be found, especially at clubs outside London, value can be enjoyed for 19 or more games for an average cost of around £25 per match! Combined with the generally cheaper cost of refreshments it seems that an annual commitment is worth the investment.
Darts main advantage lies in the accessible opportunities to witness our sports annual pinnacle moments including finals in London, Blackpool, Minehead, Dublin or Wolverhampton often for less than a single visit to any Premier league football ground.
—–ENDS—–
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