Boxing? Done. Snooker? Reinvented with a “Gold Ball” worth a million dollars. And now darts? Apparently, yes. Turki Al-Sheikh – the Saudi Arabian politician who has turned Riyadh into the sporting world’s playground – has decided tungsten is next on his shopping list.
Al-Sheikh, never one to think small, popped up in Netflix’s Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen to casually announce:
“I want to do the darts, but I want to do it crazy way. Crazy concept, yeah? Crazy play, something.”
Roughly translated: is darts about to be turbo-charged with a pile of cash and a concept that will either revolutionise the game or make purists cry into their chalkboards?
If you think he’s bluffing, just remember this is the same man who invented snooker’s 20-point Gold Ball in 2024 – a gimmick that allowed a 167 break and came with a $1m (£733,000) bonus for anyone daft or brilliant enough to sink it. Suddenly, those 170 finishes at Ally Pally are looking a bit cheap.
Talks with Barry and Eddie Hearn were caught on camera at the Chris Eubank Jr vs Conor Benn fight in April, because of course darts’ next chapter was going to be plotted ringside with the Hearns. Eddie, ever the salesman, admitted:
“This is another big night as we reach a very important time in terms of Matchroom’s future.”
In other words, when the man with the deepest pockets in world sport jumps in, Matchroom asks whether he wants pyro with that.
Barry was equally blunt in his fatherly way:
“Every journey comes to an end. What do you wanna do? Tell me. And if it makes me smile, then we have a deal.”
Somewhere, you could hear the sound of banknotes rustling.
The exchange that followed was pure Netflix gold. Eddie tried to gently steer the chat when Al-Sheikh cut him off with:
“And I said to him: ‘We want the snooker and the darts’.” Barry, spotting a cheque book bigger than the Ally Pally crowd, chimed in: “We’re on a mission… This is your legacy, Your Excellency. And this will be something that will go down in history.”
Al-Sheikh, unfazed, casually dropped:
“I can give you a long contract, three, four, five years.” Barry, never knowingly undersold, immediately raised the stakes:
“I want a 10-year deal with this. Let’s just go for it. Let’s build a massive global company.” To which His Excellency replied with the kind of brevity that makes lawyers nervous: “Let’s go.”
Behind the Netflix gloss, the numbers are eye-watering. PDC chief Matt Porter estimates darts already turns over more than £60m a year. Eddie Hearn openly admits it’s more profitable than boxing, calling darts probably twice as profitable. Add to that a new £125m Sky Sports deal and a record £1m prize for the 2026 World Champion, and you can see why the Saudis are circling the warm waters of Ally Pally.
Barry, though, ended the episode with the kind of line that only Barry Hearn could deliver: “As enthusiastic as Turki is, I trust contracts more than I trust people. I need to see it in black and white.” In other words, what he means is: pay up, sign here, and then we’ll believe it.
So, darts fans, brace yourselves. If Al-Sheikh gets his way, don’t be surprised if the World Championship final features a Platinum Bullseye worth £10m, or a walk-on through a waterfall of fireworks, camels, and Coldplay. Crazy concept, yeah? Crazy play, something.
—–ENDS—–
Images: Matchroom / PDC
