Darts World Magazine has mentioned previously that new and independent media would play an ever increasing role in the coverage afforded to our game. The ascension of Eddie Hearn has accelerated this and we imagine that there may be some TV coverage changes when contracts are negotiated in the coming months and years.
It has often been asserted that Hearn Jnr does not have his father’s passion for darts and is far more enthused by his love of boxing. However, regardless of how much truth is in that statement there are definite advantages to Eddie’s huge, modern profile from his pugilist promotions and his understanding of independent media.
Much was made of President Trump’s understanding and use of podcasts platforms in the recent US election. He selected a group of huge reach podcasts connected to sport, business, comedy and conversation. Sure Joe Rogan grabbed the headlines, and upwards of 50 million views, but his other selections included the PBD podcast which is an offshoot of US media project Valuetainment.
The host and a panel of commentators invite a wide range of guests and cover many subjects from politics and society to sport and entertainment. Who should pop up just a week after Donald Trump reclaimed the White House but our very own Matchroom head honcho.
The host, Patrick Bet David is clearly a sports fan and they discuss all kinds of boxing stories before doing some mildly political chat about the state of the UK etc.
But, as Patrick is starting to wrap up, Eddie insists on educating him about a sport he hadn’t mentioned, namely darts. The next 5 minutes are Eddie giving our games biggest/richest new market a passionate, enthusiastic and well aimed pitch from both a sporting and business perspective.
The PBD team happily pull up clips of littler and the crazy crowd at PDC events and other positive images of the game. The surprise on our American cousins faces as he gives them facts and figures about attendance, viewership and party atmosphere. His assertion that it will be bigger than boxing is met with wide eyed amazement.
The combination of a Podcast with a 6.1million subscriber base and Eddie’s gift of the gab may well be worth keeping an eye on.
—–ENDS—–
