If you thought the game of darts was just a way to pass the time in a pub, think again. The skill-based sport as been on the rise internationally for nearly 25 years, has produced a small circle of stars and strives to offer larger purses to winners in order to make turning professional a realistic aspiration for amateurs.
With the establishment at the Tropicana this year of the World Series of Darts’ U.S. Masters, the Professional Darts Corporation hopes that the spirit of competition and celebration inherent to modern dart playing will catch on in North America as well.
“Darts is a huge sport in America, but it’s not seen as a professional career for players, and we want to change that,” said Barry Hearn, founder and chairman of Matchroom Sport, which acquired the PDC in 2001. “That might not happen overnight, but we’ve always had great support from the American darting community and that’s certainly been the case since we announced that we were bringing the World Series of Darts to Las Vegas.”
The U.S. Masters brings professional darts back to Sin City for the first time since the PDC’s last Las Vegas Desert Classic in 2010. Eight North American qualifiers face off against eight top-seeded international stars, with the winner earning the title of U.S. Darts Master. Tough competitors Phil “The Power” Taylor, “Mighty” Michael van Gerwen and Peter “Snakebite” Wright are set to play, and when they make entrances to amplified anthems as fans cheer them on it will be apparent to the uninitiated why darts is enjoying its resurgence. Big screens and cameras enhance the spectator experience, but it’s the celebratory atmosphere complete with costumes and sing-alongs that elevate darts from a pub pastime into a sport.
Tropicana, noon July 13-16, starting at $40 plus tax and fee. 800.829.9034
