Glen Durrants BDO plea...
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:53 pm
Glen Durrant says the BDO is in danger of being "swallowed up" unless the organisation finds a way to follow in the PDC's footsteps and attract larger live crowds.
Duzza wrote his name into the BDO record books at the weekend with yet another major victory, this time storming his way to World Darts Trophy success.
In lifting the crown, Durrant not only yet again demonstrated his complete dominance but also became the first player in BDO history to win the World title, the World Masters and the World Trophy.
For Duzza, though, the delight of his latest success was dampened somewhat by the "mega disappointment" of incredibly low crowds at Preston Guild Hall.
The venue can house around 2,000 fans but no more than a few dozen spectators were in attendance for Durrant's 10-7 victory against Michael Unterbuchner in the final.
"I'm not political and I won't slag the BDO off, but something needs to be done," Durrant told TeessideLive in a typically honest assessment.
"I'm a strategist in housing not in marketing, but they (BDO) need to find a solution.
"The week before I was watching the PDC and 22,000 people were there in the crowd. The envy is there, I'm not going to lie.
"Our marketing is not good enough. If you're getting 22,000 people turning up at the PDC events, the interest is clearly there.
"When I was walking around Preston I didn't see one poster. I saw posters for Roy Chubby Brown and other events coming up, but none for the darts. I got a taxi to the event and the driver asked me where I was going. When I told him I was a darts player he didn't know the event was on.
"We need someone to have a vision, to step forward and say where it's going. We're up against a juggernaut in the PDC and we need to come up with some answers.
"I'm just a darts player, I'm not a marketing expert. But something needs to be done about it, we need to have a vision or we're just going to get swallowed up."
Despite his disappointment at the lack of interest in the crowd, Durrant was delighted to once again come out on top on the stage, particularly after a period in which he's played more exhibitions than competitive matches.
"I went there lacking in match practice but once again it just clicked when I got on that stage," he says.
"When you're used to getting over that winning line, you get on that stage knowing your game is still there, even if I've been playing more on the exhibition circuit of late.
"I'm not as brash as someone like Michael van Gerwen or like Eric Bristow used to be. You know, Bristow used to walk through the door and say, 'right, who am I playing in the final?'.
"I'm so far away from that. I still go in thinking I'm lacking match practice, but I hear the other players saying they need to be so consistent to beat me, that they need to try and get on top of me from the start and take their chances.
"I saw that I was even money favourite before the tournament started and the second favourite was 10/1, I'm not that far ahead of everyone else."
Despite Durrant's modesty, his results and performances say otherwise - and the bad news for his BDO competitors is the fact he aims to continue his dominance throughout the rest of the year.
He's targeting the World Masters later this year, "can't wait" for the Grand Slam when he goes up against the PDC's best and then has his eye on a third successive Lakeside crown.
Duzza wrote his name into the BDO record books at the weekend with yet another major victory, this time storming his way to World Darts Trophy success.
In lifting the crown, Durrant not only yet again demonstrated his complete dominance but also became the first player in BDO history to win the World title, the World Masters and the World Trophy.
For Duzza, though, the delight of his latest success was dampened somewhat by the "mega disappointment" of incredibly low crowds at Preston Guild Hall.
The venue can house around 2,000 fans but no more than a few dozen spectators were in attendance for Durrant's 10-7 victory against Michael Unterbuchner in the final.
"I'm not political and I won't slag the BDO off, but something needs to be done," Durrant told TeessideLive in a typically honest assessment.
"I'm a strategist in housing not in marketing, but they (BDO) need to find a solution.
"The week before I was watching the PDC and 22,000 people were there in the crowd. The envy is there, I'm not going to lie.
"Our marketing is not good enough. If you're getting 22,000 people turning up at the PDC events, the interest is clearly there.
"When I was walking around Preston I didn't see one poster. I saw posters for Roy Chubby Brown and other events coming up, but none for the darts. I got a taxi to the event and the driver asked me where I was going. When I told him I was a darts player he didn't know the event was on.
"We need someone to have a vision, to step forward and say where it's going. We're up against a juggernaut in the PDC and we need to come up with some answers.
"I'm just a darts player, I'm not a marketing expert. But something needs to be done about it, we need to have a vision or we're just going to get swallowed up."
Despite his disappointment at the lack of interest in the crowd, Durrant was delighted to once again come out on top on the stage, particularly after a period in which he's played more exhibitions than competitive matches.
"I went there lacking in match practice but once again it just clicked when I got on that stage," he says.
"When you're used to getting over that winning line, you get on that stage knowing your game is still there, even if I've been playing more on the exhibition circuit of late.
"I'm not as brash as someone like Michael van Gerwen or like Eric Bristow used to be. You know, Bristow used to walk through the door and say, 'right, who am I playing in the final?'.
"I'm so far away from that. I still go in thinking I'm lacking match practice, but I hear the other players saying they need to be so consistent to beat me, that they need to try and get on top of me from the start and take their chances.
"I saw that I was even money favourite before the tournament started and the second favourite was 10/1, I'm not that far ahead of everyone else."
Despite Durrant's modesty, his results and performances say otherwise - and the bad news for his BDO competitors is the fact he aims to continue his dominance throughout the rest of the year.
He's targeting the World Masters later this year, "can't wait" for the Grand Slam when he goes up against the PDC's best and then has his eye on a third successive Lakeside crown.
