John Riordan: Could darts hit the bullseye and break America?

Peter Wright competing at the bet365 US Darts Masters in New York Picture: Ed Mulholland (PDC)

It feels like an odd sporting import that shouldn’t work. It’s uniquely popular where already long established and this effort to explore new territory and new markets seems ambitious.

The chief protagonists could even stand accused of chasing the financial clout of a damaging regime whose government is distrusted across the world while heavily influenced by religious doctrine and fundamentalist adherents.

Are we comfortable funnelling blood money into the pockets of the participants whose generally unathletic physiques mean those pockets are somewhat larger than other actual athletes?

The biggest stars are buying in. They are driven by financial opportunity and who could blame them? But in years to come, how will they reflect on their decision?

The old guard is sceptical but the tide is turning and momentum is shifting. One of the greatest cities in the world was eager to host and the experiment was set in motion, in spite of the geopolitical concerns.

Questionable dress sense, keen rivalries, relatable stars for fans who themselves get to regularly play no matter how old they are and no matter how many beers are on board.

When I initially heard the best darts players in the world were coming to Madison Square Garden for the first time in the history of the sport, I was cynically amused.

I was of course snarking from a position of deep ignorance; I couldn’t name you a single current star nor any that have competed post-Phil “The Power” Taylor. Explaining the importance of the Christmas television season to an American is tricky enough but it gets even more difficult when you try to walk them through the phenomenon of Sky Sports darts.

Could it make it here? That seems to be the bet being placed by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) who decided to step it up a level this year when they made New York City and the Garden a stop on their World Series of Darts roadshow.

It was a two-night stint at the Hulu Theater which is the secondary space nestled into the bowels of the iconic arena on the Eighth Avenue side of the building. With a capacity of almost 6,000, it was probably an ideal size for the PDC’s salesforce as they dip their toes into this next level of interest.

One of those tickets fell into my lap as part of a birthday group for a friend of a friend, both of whom are from the UK and thus prime targets to help sell the place out.

But there was extensive interest among the natives too if the oft repeated “USA USA” chants were anything to go by, probably a helpful indicator that the PDC is edging closer towards a bullseye.

Part of me regretted taking the extra ticket. What am I at? 

101 things to do in a city like this and I’m off down the darts to watch it rain 180s.

But the excitement on display by one of our darts party slowly made the rest of us realise "oh, you're actually into this?"

Our friend Breener knew every personality, their career stats, their whacky backstories and the precise moments we should boo the panto villain or the prohibitive favourite.

We settled into our seats and it was immediately apparent that it was going to be a fun night. The atmosphere was electric and the effort and thought put into the tacky fancy dress was honestly admirable.

The staff at the Garden see all sorts of different crowds for all sorts of different occasions. From every musical genre you can think of and the wildly different followings they attract to boxing nights, rodeo nights and comedy nights. Even the fans of the Rangers hockey team and the fans of the Knicks basketball team are polar opposites - just ask the nearby bar owners which home games shift more alcohol.

But I couldn’t help wonder what the bar tenders and ushers made of this lot and the adulation they send the way of - let’s face it - a few heavyset fellas in bad shirts throwing a dart at a board. They do this professionally?

This being my first time at a live darts event, everything was new to me. Helpfully, there were large screens either side of the live action to help make the situation feel less ridiculous.

Breener was very helpful too. She waxed lyrical about the BBC producer who decades ago decided the camera should zoom in on the third dart of a potential maximum score in order to build tension and drama. It works, of course, and naturally we joined in every time a 180 blew the doors off the place.

Organisers did everything they could to create a little bit of Ally Pally in New York. They placed fans at banquet style tables just beneath the stage to mimic the atmosphere of the Alexandra Palace. And the players did their bit too, signing autographs as they headed for the stage through the crowd, lingering long enough for the cameras and the banging dance music.

“Watch now, he’ll do his little dance across the stage,” said Breener as world number one Peter Wright entered the fray ahead of his demolition of the sole American to make the quarter-finals, Leonard Gates. Gates’ win over Fallon Sherrock denied her a berth at the main event, sadly.

“These two are best friends but everyone hates The Iceman,” she informed us about Gerwyn Price who had held off his Welsh compatriot, Jonny Clayton, 8-7 in the most exciting contest of the night.

And in her best decision of the evening, Breener noticed that about three rows ahead of us, there was a contest taking place between a group of friends who were joyously three sheets to the wind. She figured out that every time a 180 was scored, the ten dollar note would be passed to the right and back around. The last one left holding it after the final 180 of the event would win the pot. We started our own game with just enough time for about a dozen of those triple 20 trebles to move our own $10 note and the virtual $200 pile.

Admittedly and maybe unsurprisingly it was a male-dominated audience but it was good-natured, well-behaved and very positive.

It wasn’t just the fans who were happy to be there, though. Some of the players had never been to New York so they were as wide-eyed about the event as their followers. Not to mention those mathematical geniuses quickly tracking the scores in real time. They fascinated me.

The production value was slick and the proceedings ticked along at a nice pace. It was interesting to see in the flesh how they’ve managed to bring the TV drama back out into the theatrical space.

I pictured us being beamed into living rooms across the pond at an ungodly 4am, part of some sad post nightclub channel surfing haze.

And I imagined these dreary viewers being suddenly roused awake every time the host loudly and excitedly reminded us that we were being beamed out live from the “world famous Madison Square Garden”, over and over ad finitum.

It spoke to the PDC’s own euphoria that they had broken a barrier. In fact, they used the occasion to formally announce that next June, they would run it back at the Garden. Mission accomplished.

Michael Smith twice came from behind in the final to surprise Michael van Gerwen 8-4, helping him win his first US Darts Masters title, a £20,000 winner's cheque and cliched headlines about “Smith's Fairytale of New York”.

It was an enjoyable end to a great evening and the crowd exited onto Seventh Avenue in fine spirits.

"This is special but I can say that I didn't win, Michael didn't win - I think darts won tonight especially here in America," runner-up van Gerwen told PDC.tv.

"I think this is a massive step forward for the professionalisation of darts in general and the global sport of darts."

The World Series of Darts lands back to earth at a not so famous arena in Copenhagen for a less marketable Viaplay Nordic Darts Masters. But when it comes back to the Big Apple next year, we’ll be back there with our leader Breener and I’ll be ready to defend my 180 winnings.

@JohnWRiordan