BDO World Darts Championship

The BDO World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO). It began in 1978, and was, alongside the World Darts Federation's World Cup of Darts, one of two world championship tournaments until 1993. Since 1994, following a dispute with the BDO and the subsequent fallout, a breakaway group (originally known as the World Darts Council, and now known as the Professional Darts Corporation) stages its own annual PDC World Championship, generally before the BDO version in late December and early January of each year.

BDO World Professional Darts Championship
Tournament information
VenueIndigo at The O2, London (2020–)
Lakeside, Frimley Green (1986–2019)
Jollees, Stoke-on-Trent (1979–1985)
Heart of the Midlands, Nottingham (1978)
CountryEngland
Established1978 (41st edition)
Organisation(s)BDO category Major / WDF category Major
FormatSets
Prize fund£164,000 (2020)
Month(s) PlayedJanuary
Current champion(s)
Wayne Warren (men's)
Mikuru Suzuki (women's)
Keane Barry (youth)

The BDO version was first held at the Heart of the Midlands Nightclub in the English city of Nottingham. The following year it moved to the Jollees Cabaret Club, Stoke, where it stayed until 1985. From 1986 to 2019, it was held at the Lakeside Country Club in Frimley Green, Surrey. Beginning in 2020, the tournament was held at Indigo, part of the O2 entertainment district in London.[1]


Highlights

In 1983, a 23-year-old qualifier from Ipswich, Keith Deller, beat the world's top 3 players including Eric Bristow in the final to produce one of the greatest upsets in the sport's history.

In 1990 American player Paul Lim hit the tournament's first 9-dart finish in the second round against Irishman Jack McKenna to win a bonus of £52,000 which was more than the eventual champion Phil Taylor received.

The finals of 1992, 1998 and 1999 all went into a deciding set play off, having reached 5 sets all and 2 legs all. In 1992, Phil Taylor defeated Mike Gregory in a sudden death leg, having reached 5 legs apiece. In 1998 Raymond van Barneveld beat Richie Burnett 4–2 in legs in the deciding set. Van Barneveld then repeated the same final set scoreline the following year against Ronnie Baxter.

In the final of 2007 Martin Adams was 6 sets up, and after the comfort break, Phill Nixon responded by winning the next 6 consecutive sets. Adams held on to take victory in the 13th and deciding set, to win the title that had eluded him for 14 years.

In 2019, Glen Durrant became the second player to win three consecutive BDO Men's World Championhips after Eric Bristow between 1984 and 1986, while Mikuru Suzuki became the first Asian world darts champion in any form.

Final results and statistics
Year Champion Av. Score Runner-Up Av. Prize Money Venue Sponsor
Total Ch. R.-Up
1978 Leighton Rees 92.40 11 – 7 legs John Lowe 89.40 £10,500 £3,000 £1,700 HotMC, Nottingham Embassy
1979 John Lowe 87.42 5 – 0 sets Leighton Rees 76.62 £15,000 £4,500 £2,000 Jollees,
Stoke-on-Trent
1980 Eric Bristow 88.10 5 – 3 Bobby George 86.49 £15,000 £4,500 £2,000
1981 Eric Bristow (2) 86.10 5 – 3 John Lowe 81.00 £23,300 £5,500 £2,500
1982 Jocky Wilson 88.10 5 – 3 John Lowe 84.30 £28,000 £6,500 £3,000
1983 Keith Deller 90.00 6 – 5 Eric Bristow 93.90 £33,050 £8,000 £3,500
1984 Eric Bristow (3) 97.50 7 – 1 Dave Whitcombe 90.60 £38,500 £9,000 £4,000
1985 Eric Bristow (4) 97.50 6 – 2 John Lowe 93.12 £43,000 £10,000 £5,000
1986 Eric Bristow (5) 94.47 6 – 0 Dave Whitcombe 90.45 £52,500 £12,000 £6,000 Lakeside Country Club,
Frimley Green, Surrey
1987 John Lowe (2) 90.63 6 – 4 Eric Bristow 94.29 £60,300 £14,000 £7,000
1988 Bob Anderson 92.70 6 – 4 John Lowe 92.07 £71,600 £16,000 £8,000
1989 Jocky Wilson (2) 94.32 6 – 4 Eric Bristow 90.66 £86,900 £20,000 £10,000
1990 Phil Taylor 97.47 6 – 1 Eric Bristow 93.00 £153,200[2] £24,000 £12,000
1991 Dennis Priestley 92.57 6 – 0 Eric Bristow 84.15 £110,500 £26,000 £13,000
1992 Phil Taylor (2) 97.58 6 – 5 Mike Gregory 94.42 £119,500 £28,000 £14,000
1993 John Lowe (3) 83.97 6 – 3 Alan Warriner 82.32 £128,500 £30,000 £15,000
1994 John Part 82.44 6 – 0 Bobby George 80.31 £136,100 £32,000 £16,000
1995 Richie Burnett 93.63 6 – 3 Raymond van Barneveld 91.23 £143,000 £34,000 £17,000
1996 Steve Beaton 90.27 6 – 3 Richie Burnett 88.05 £150,000 £36,000 £18,000
1997 Les Wallace 92.19 6 – 3 Marshall James 92.01 £158,000 £38,000 £19,000
1998 Raymond van Barneveld 93.96 6 – 5 Richie Burnett 97.14 £166,000 £40,000 £20,000
1999 Raymond van Barneveld (2) 94.65 6 – 5 Ronnie Baxter 94.65 £174,000 £42,000 £21,000
2000 Ted Hankey 92.40 6 – 0 Ronnie Baxter 88.35 £182,000 £44,000 £22,000
2001 John Walton 95.55 6 – 2 Ted Hankey 94.86 £189,000 £46,000 £23,000
2002 Tony David 93.57 6 – 4 Mervyn King 89.67 £197,000 £48,000 £24,000
2003 Raymond van Barneveld (3) 94.86 6 – 3 Ritchie Davies 90.66 £205,000 £50,000 £25,000
2004 Andy Fordham 97.08 6 – 3 Mervyn King 91.02 £201,000 £50,000 £25,000 Lakeside
Country
Club
2005 Raymond van Barneveld (4) 96.78 6 – 2 Martin Adams 91.35 £201,000 £50,000 £25,000
2006 Jelle Klaasen 90.42 7 – 5 Raymond van Barneveld 93.06 £211,000[3] £60,000 £25,000
2007 Martin Adams 90.30 7 – 6 Phill Nixon 87.09 £226,000 £70,000 £30,000
2008 Mark Webster 92.07 7 – 5 Simon Whitlock 93.92 £246,000 £85,000 £30,000
2009 Ted Hankey (2) 91.46 7 – 6 Tony O'Shea 90.54 £256,000 £95,000 £30,000
2010 Martin Adams (2) 95.01 7 – 5 Dave Chisnall 93.42 £261,000 £100,000 £30,000
2011 Martin Adams (3) 92.13 7 – 5 Dean Winstanley 89.08 £261,000 £100,000 £30,000
2012 Christian Kist 90.00 7 – 5 Tony O'Shea 87.78 £258,000 £100,000 £30,000
2013 Scott Waites 86.43 7 – 1 Tony O'Shea 81.90 £261,000 £100,000 £30,000
2014 Stephen Bunting 96.18 7 – 4 Alan Norris 92.19 £300,000 £100,000 £35,000
2015 Scott Mitchell 92.61 7 – 6 Martin Adams 92.55 £300,000 £100,000 £35,000
2016 Scott Waites (2) 87.54 7 – 1 Jeff Smith 84.99 £300,000 £100,000 £35,000
2017 Glen Durrant 93.48 7 – 3 Danny Noppert 93.30 £300,000 £100,000 £35,000
2018 Glen Durrant (2) 93.97 7 – 6 Mark McGeeney 86.31 £300,000 £100,000 £35,000
2019 Glen Durrant (3) 95.19 7 – 3 Scott Waites 91.38 £300,000 £100,000 £35,000
2020 Wayne Warren 93.72 7 – 4 Jim Williams 94.53 £164,000 £23,000 £10,000 Indigo at The O2, London BDO

Finalists
Player 1st 2nd
Eric Bristow 5 5
Raymond van Barneveld 4 2
John Lowe 3 5
Martin Adams 3 2
Glen Durrant 3 0
Scott Waites 2 1
Ted Hankey 2 1
Phil Taylor 2 0
Jocky Wilson 2 0
Richie Burnett 1 2
Leighton Rees 1 1
Wayne Warren 1 0
Stephen Bunting 1 0
Scott Mitchell 1 0
Christian Kist 1 0
Mark Webster 1 0
Keith Deller 1 0
Jelle Klaasen 1 0
Andy Fordham 1 0
Tony David 1 0
John Walton 1 0
Les Wallace 1 0
Steve Beaton 1 0
John Part 1 0
Dennis Priestley 1 0
Bob Anderson 1 0
Tony O'Shea 0 3
Ronnie Baxter 0 2
Mervyn King 0 2
Dave Whitcombe 0 2
Bobby George 0 2
Alan Norris 0 1
Dave Chisnall 0 1
Dean Winstanley 0 1
Ritchie Davies 0 1
Simon Whitlock 0 1
Phill Nixon 0 1
Marshall James 0 1
Mike Gregory 0 1
Alan Warriner 0 1
Jeff Smith 0 1
Danny Noppert 0 1
Mark McGeeney 0 1
Jim Williams 0 1

Nine-dart finishes
Player Year (+Round) Method Opponent Result
Paul Lim 1990, 2nd Round 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 Jack McKenna 3–2

Averages

Since the breakaway of the PDC players, there has been much debate about the relative merits of the players within each organisation. The debate often focuses on the three-dart averages of players in matches.

Since the BDO Championship started in 1978, there have been 21 occasions where a player has achieved a three-dart average in excess of 100 during a match. Keith Deller was the first player to achieve an average of 100, in the quarter-final of 1985 against John Lowe, although he lost the match. It was not until Phil Taylor's semi-final of 1990 that another player managed a 100 average. Raymond van Barneveld has achieved the feat six times.[4]

Ten highest BDO World Championship one-match averages[5]
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
103.83 Raymond van Barneveld 2004, Quarter-Final John Walton 5–1
102.63 Dennis Priestley 1993, Last 32 Jocky Wilson 3–0
101.67 Mervyn King 2002, Quarter-Final Raymond van Barneveld 5–3
101.55 Ted Hankey 1998, Last 32 Wayne Weening 3–0
101.40 Marko Pusa 2001, Last 16 Jez Porter 3–1
101.28 Martin Adams 2002, Quarter-Final Wayne Jones 5–1
101.10 Raymond van Barneveld 2002, Quarter-Final Mervyn King 3–5
100.92 Raymond van Barneveld 2005, Last 16 Mike Veitch 3–1
100.92 Glen Durrant 2018, Quarter-Final Jim Williams 5–4
100.83 Raymond van Barneveld 2002, Last 32 Bobby George 3–1
Five highest losing averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
101.10 Raymond van Barneveld 2002, Quarter-Final Mervyn King 3–5
100.29 Keith Deller 1985, Quarter-Final John Lowe 2–4
99.87 Glen Durrant 2015, Semi-Final Martin Adams 5–6
99.57 Karel Sedláček 2015, Last 32 Glen Durrant 1–3
99.45 Robbie Widdows 1999, Last 32 Kevin Painter 0–3
Different players with a 100+ match average - updated 6/5/18
Player Total Highest Av. Year (+ Round)
Raymond van Barneveld 6 103.83 2004, Quarter-Final
Martin Adams 3 101.28 2002, Quarter-Final
Ted Hankey 2 101.55 1998, Last 32
Dennis Priestley 1 102.63 1993, Last 32
Mervyn King 1 101.67 2002, Quarter-Final
Marko Pusa 1 101.40 2001, Last 32
Glen Durrant 1 100.92 2018, Quarter-Final
Phil Taylor 1 100.80 1990, Semi-Final
Darryl Fitton 1 100.71 2008, Last 16
Stephen Bunting 1 100.65 2014, Last 16
John Walton 1 100.62 2001, Last 32
Keith Deller 1 100.29 1985, Quarter-Final
Chris Mason 1 100.02 2000, Last 32
Five highest tournament averages (min 3 matches)
Average Player Year
100.88 Raymond van Barneveld 2002
97.96 Raymond van Barneveld 2004
97.62 Raymond van Barneveld 2003
97.49 Raymond van Barneveld 2005
97.42 Glen Durrant 2015

Women's Championship

The women's World Championship started at Lakeside in 2001 and Trina Gulliver has won ten championships. Her seventh title in 2007 took her overall record at the Lakeside to 20 match wins and having only dropped four sets in the history of the championship – one each in the finals of 2001, 2002 and 2007 and one in the quarter final of 2003. She managed a long run of 13 consecutive matches without dropping a single set, which started the semi-final of 2003 and ended in the final of 2007.

In 2008, Anastasia Dobromyslova won the World Championship, becoming the first player other than Trina Gulliver to take the title. Following her appearance at the Grand Slam of Darts in November 2008, Anastasia Dobromyslova joined the Professional Darts Corporation, hence leaving the BDO and did not defend her title. 2009 saw five-time runner-up Francis Hoenselaar complete the Masters/World Championship double by beating Gulliver 2–1 in the final. 2012 was the first final without Gulliver, who lost in the semi-final to the eventual champion Dobromyslova.

The finals:[6]

Year Champion (average in final) Sets Runner-Up (average in final) Prizepool
2001 Trina Gulliver (83.97) 2 – 1 Mandy Solomons (79.11) £6,000
2002 Trina Gulliver (84.36) 2 – 1 Francis Hoenselaar (82.95) £8,000
2003 Trina Gulliver (84.93) 2 – 0 Anne Kirk (70.20) £10,000
2004 Trina Gulliver (87.03) 2 – 0 Francis Hoenselaar (85.44) £10,000
2005 Trina Gulliver (79.68) 2 – 0 Francis Hoenselaar (73.89) £10,000
2006 Trina Gulliver (73.80) 2 – 0 Francis Hoenselaar (70.26) £12,000
2007 Trina Gulliver (80.61) 2 – 1 Francis Hoenselaar (79.23) £12,000
2008 Anastasia Dobromyslova (81.54) 2 – 0 Trina Gulliver (71.64) £12,000
2009 Francis Hoenselaar (77.39) 2 – 1 Trina Gulliver (75.19) £12,000
2010 Trina Gulliver (80.52) 2 – 0 Rhian Edwards (68.25) £12,000
2011 Trina Gulliver (73.95) 2 – 0 Rhian Edwards (73.86) £16,000
2012 Anastasia Dobromyslova (73.95) 2 – 1 Deta Hedman (74.13) £16,000
2013 Anastasia Dobromyslova (82.29) 2 – 1 Lisa Ashton (80.40) £16,000
2014 Lisa Ashton (84.81) 3 – 2 Deta Hedman (77.79) £29,000
2015 Lisa Ashton (83.22) 3 – 1 Fallon Sherrock (83.76) £29,000
2016 Trina Gulliver (72.93) 3 – 2 Deta Hedman (75.51) £29,000
2017 Lisa Ashton (81.81) 3 – 0 Corrine Hammond (73.53) £29,000
2018 Lisa Ashton (89.80) 3 – 1 Anastasia Dobromyslova (81.83) £29,000
2019 Mikuru Suzuki (90.12) 3 – 0 Lorraine Winstanley (78.82) £29,000
2020 Mikuru Suzuki (83.39) 3 – 0 Lisa Ashton (85.00) £20,500

Finalists
Player 1st 2nd
Trina Gulliver 10 2
Lisa Ashton 4 2
Anastasia Dobromyslova 3 1
Mikuru Suzuki 2 0
Francis Hoenselaar 1 5
Deta Hedman 0 3
Rhian Edwards 0 2
Mandy Solomons 0 1
Anne Kirk 0 1
Fallon Sherrock 0 1
Corrine Hammond 0 1
Lorraine Winstanley 0 1

Averages
Ten highest BDO Women's World Championship one-match averages[7]
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
95.97 Trina Gulliver 2006, Semi-Final Clare Bywaters 2–0
94.92 Trina Gulliver 2001, Semi-Final Crissy Manley 2–0
90.24 Trina Gulliver 2004, Semi-Final Karin Krappen 2–0
90.18 Lisa Ashton 2015, Quarter-Final Trina Gulliver 2–0
90.12 Mikuru Suzuki 2019, Final Lorraine Winstanley 3–0
89.80 Lisa Ashton 2018, Final Anastasia Dobromyslova 3–1
89.67 Fallon Sherrock 2019, Last 16 Corrine Hammond 2–0
87.30 Lisa Ashton 2015, Semi-Final Sharon Prins 2–0
87.06 Lisa Ashton 2017, Last 16 Sharon Prins 2–0
87.03 Trina Gulliver 2004, Final Francis Hoenselaar 2–0
Five highest losing averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
86.46 Rhian Griffiths 2017, Last 16 Anastasia Dobromyslova 1–2
85.44 Francis Hoenselaar 2004, Final Trina Gulliver 0–2
85.00 Lisa Ashton 2020, Final Mikuru Suzuki 0–3
83.76 Fallon Sherrock 2015, Final Lisa Ashton 1–3
82.95 Francis Hoenselaar 2002, Final Trina Gulliver 1–2
Five highest tournament averages (min 2 matches)
Average Player Year
89.45 Trina Gulliver 2001
88.11 Trina Gulliver 2004
85.61 Lisa Ashton 2015
85.22 Trina Gulliver 2006
83.86 Lisa Ashton 2017

Youth Championship
Year Champion (average in final) Sets Runner-Up (average in final)
1986 Mark Day 3 – 1 Lee Woodrow
2015 Colin Roelofs (76.41) 3 – 0 Harry Ward (70.68)
2016 Joshua Richardson (75.09) 3 – 2 Jordan Boyce (69.63)
2017 Justin van Tergouw (88.20) 3 – 0 Nathan Girvan (74.55)
2018 Justin van Tergouw (93.04) 3 – 1 Killian Heffernan (82.29)
2019 Leighton Bennett (86.65) 3 – 0 Nathan Girvan (76.56)
2020 Keane Barry (90.54) 3 – 0 Leighton Bennett (84.24)

Finalists
Player 1st 2nd
Justin van Tergouw 2 0
Leighton Bennett 1 1
Colin Roelofs 1 0
Joshua Richardson 1 0
Mark Day 1 0
Keane Barry 1 0
Nathan Girvan 0 2
Harry Ward 0 1
Jordan Boyce 0 1
Killian Heffernan 0 1
Lee Woodrow 0 1

Records

Since the split in darts two versions of the world championship have existed since 1994, this record section relates specifically to achievements in the BDO version.

Most titles: Eric Bristow 5. Raymond van Barneveld has won four titles
Most finals: Eric Bristow 10. John Lowe appeared in eight finals and Raymond van Barneveld reached the final six times
Most appearances: Martin Adams 25. John Lowe and Eric Bristow appeared in the first 16 tournaments, but the split in darts prevented them from increasing that total. Adams' appearance at the 2010 tournament surpassed their record.
Youngest champion: Jelle Klaasen 21 years 90 days (2006)
Youngest competitor: Leighton Bennett 14 years 4 days (2020)
Oldest champion: Wayne Warren 57 years 219 days (2020)

Television coverage

BBC Sport

The tournament was broadcast in the UK by BBC Sport on television for nearly 40 years, from its inception in 1978 until the decision was made to drop the coverage after the 2016 tournament. The BBC's coverage had been fronted by David Vine (1978), Peter Purves (1979–1983), Tony Gubba (1984–1990), Eamonn Holmes (1991–1992), Dougie Donnelly (1993–1998), John Inverdale (2000) and Ray Stubbs (1999 and 2001–2009). Twice world finalist Bobby George was a pundit on the BBC's coverage from 1998. Colin Murray succeeded Stubbs as presenter from 2010–2016, as Stubbs had left the BBC at that time. Murray was assisted by Rob Walker, who is more well known as the MC for the BBC's snooker coverage.

Tony Green was the longest-serving member of the BBC commentary team covering every event from the first championship in 1978 until the end of BBC's coverage in 2016. As BBC shared coverage and commentators from 2012 until 2016, Green was also heard on ESPN and BT Sport in later years. He only missed the event once during his 38-year career due to illness in 2011 and he was replaced by BBC Radio 5 Live's Vassos Alexander. Alexander then stayed in the commentary box in every year until 2016.

The rest of the commentary team changed over the years with David Vine (1978), Sid Waddell (1978–1994), 1994 BDO world champion John Part (1995–2007) and David Croft who covered the tournament for 10 years on BBC TV and Radio as previous broadcasters until 2012 when he moved to Sky to cover F1. He was replaced by Jim Proudfoot of talkSPORT in 2013, who went on to cover the tournament in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018 with different broadcasters. John Rawling began commentating in 2014 with BBC/BT and was still part of the commentary team as coverage switched to Eurosport/Quest in 2019. The rest of the commentary team has included BDO players Bobby George, Martin Adams, Trina Gulliver, Tony O'Shea and Scott Mitchell some of whom join the commentary team if or when they are knocked out the tournament as players in various years.

For several years between 1989 and 2001, the Championship was often the only tournament shown on terrestrial television in the UK, although the BBC covered the Unipart European Masters in 1995 and ITV covered four WDC UK Matchplay tournaments from 1993–1996 on quadro dart boards, as well as the 'Clash of the Titans' one-off encounter between the two world champions, Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld, in 1999.

It was not until 2005 that viewers were able to see every dart live at the World Championship, when the BBC introduced interactive coverage on its BBC Red Button service.[8] From 2012, they began to reduce their coverage as they surrendered their exclusive coverage for the first time in the UK. ESPN took over the live broadcasting of the evening sessions,[9] although the BBC held on to exclusively live coverage of the final.

BBC regained exclusive coverage for the 2014 tournament, but resumed a shared broadcasting agreement to cover the 2015 and 2016 events with BT who would cover every evening session in the tournament. John Rawling, Vassos Alexander, Tony Green and George Riley provided the commentary for both broadcasters in 2015 and 2016 - Jim Proudfoot was an additional commentator in 2015.

The BBC contract expired after the 2016 final and they opted to drop the tournament, instead covering a new PDC tournament: The Champions League of Darts in September 2016. The rights from 2017 were taken up by Channel 4.[10]

ESPN

After being broadcast exclusively on the BBC in the UK for 34 years, ESPN began sharing coverage of the tournament in 2012. Ray Stubbs was confirmed as their host, returning to the Lakeside as a broadcaster, over two years after leaving the BBC.[11] ESPN host Nat Coombs was also part of the presentation team. Both broadcasters used the same commentary team – Tony Green, David Croft and Vassos Alexander for 2012 and Jim Proudfoot replacing Croft for 2013.[11] ESPN broadcast the evening sessions from the opening day until the quarter finals, as well as the second semi-final live. ESPN showed recorded highlights of the final.[11] Following the launch of BT Sport, which acquired all of ESPN's sporting rights, coverage was dropped from ESPN and the entire 2014 Championships was shown exclusively live by the BBC.

BT Sport

BT Sport covered the event between 2015 and 2018, first of all sharing broadcasting arrangements with the BBC in 2015 and 2016, then with Channel 4 in 2017 and 2018. They had exclusive live coverage of the all the evening sessions, plus the second semi-final across their four years broadcasting the event. BT broadcast the final live in all four years of the coverage, although it was shared live coverage with their broadcast partners (BBC 2015-2016 and Channel 4 2017-2018)

BT's welcomed back Ray Stubbs as main host, who returned to Lakeside coverage having fronted the BBC's coverage in 1999 and from 2001–2009 and also for ESPN (2012-2013). Stubbs hosted alongside 2-time champion Ted Hankey who returned to the BDO in 2014 but just missed out on a qualifying spot for Lakeside 2015. Roving reporters were Helen Skelton in 2015 and Reshmin Chowdhury in 2016. Commentators were shared by broadcasters during BT's four year coverage. John Rawling and Vassos Alexander broadcast commentary throughout BT's four-year coverage, Jim Proudfoot covered the event in 2015, 2017 and 2018. George Riley and Tony Green covered the event in 2015 and 2016, with Green retiring after the 2016, the year in which BBC ended their coverage.

Ray Stubbs moved to Talksport 2 and was replaced by Matt Smith for the 2017 and 2018 events, with Chris Mason acting as their analyst.

Channel 4

Channel 4 signed a two-year deal to cover the 2017 and 2018 championships, sharing the event with BT Sport. Their coverage was presented by Rob Walker, who previously worked for the BBC as a presenter and reporter at the Lakeside from 2010–2016 alongside PDC professional Paul Nicholson and BDO Ladies' player Deta Hedman. Bobby George presented features, staying involved in the coverage which he had fronted on the BBC since 2000. Commentary was provided again from Jim Proudfoot, John Rawling & Vassos Alexander. Proudfoot returned after missing 2016 because of other commitments. Tony Green had retired after the 2016 championship and therefore didn't make the move to Channel 4. Thus Green's commentary career stretched across the whole of BBC's 38-year span covering the event between 1978 and 2016, with the only exception of the 2011 championship which he missed due to illness.

Eurosport and Quest

Prior to the 2019 championship, the BDO secured a new 3-year deal with Eurosport with coverage being shown on both the broadcasters main subscription channel and free-to-air on Quest.[12] As with the previous years the afternoon sessions were shown free to air with Quest simulcasting Eurosport coverage with highlights of the evening sessions also being shown on Quest. Eurosport cover every session with both broadcasters showing the final live. The coverage was presented by Nat Coombs with Georgie Bingham also reporting on the event. Punditry and commentary for the tournament were provided by John Rawling, Chris Mason, Paul Nicholson, Martin Adams and Tony O'Shea.

International coverage

International coverage of the event has grown through the years. Dutch television station SBS6 broadcast the event since 1998, as Dutch players have become more prominent in the world game. SBS6's contract to cover the event ran until 2008.[13]

Viewing figures

UK viewing figures for World Championship final data provided by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board UK.

2019 372,200
2015 2,000,000 [14]
2014 3,500,000 [15][16]
2013 2,100,000
2012 2,370,000
2011 2,330,000
2010 3,100,000
2009 1,830,000
2008 3,010,000
2007 3,300,000
2006 3,620,000
2005 2,550,000
2004 3,410,000
2003 2,810,000
2002 2,460,000
2001 3,680,000
2000 3,700,000
1999 4,060,000
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References
  1. Turner, Laura. "2020 World Professional Darts Championships - Venue Confirmation". British Darts Organisation. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  2. Prize fund included £52,000 bonus for Paul Lim's 9-dart finish
  3. From 2006, the £52,000 bonus for a 9-dart finish was included as part of the published prize fund, regardless of whether any player managed to achieve the feat. This table does not include that.
  4. "Raymond van Barneveld 6 ton + averages". Darts Database. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  5. dartsdatabase.co.uk; best winning averages
  6. "Women's World Championship results". dartsdatabase.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  7. dartsdatabase.co.uk; best winning averages
  8. "Lakeside BDO Darts World Championship 2005 - review". 15 November 2006. Archived from the original on 15 November 2006.
  9. BBC to split TV rights to darts coverage with ESPN guardian.co.uk
  10. "Channel 4 takes over Darts coverage". www.a516digital.com. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  11. "ESPN and BBC collaborate to provide full coverage of Lakeside 2012 bdodarts.com". BDO Darts.
  12. Menmuir, Ted (30 October 2018). "In time for Lakeside! BDO secures Eurosport as primary broadcaster". SBC News.
  13. ROYAL CONGRATULATIONS FOR BARNEY World Darts Federation, January 2005
  14. Matt, Monaghan. "INSIDE STORY: Charismatic players and rise in viewership makes darts a worldwide phenomenon". sport360.com. Sports 360, 1 June 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  15. Devlin, Patricia. "BBC gives BDO darts the boot after 40 years of coverage as budget cuts bite". mirror.co.uk. The Daily Mirror, 5 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  16. Rumsby, Ben. "BBC secures world snooker championship until 2019". Telegraph.co.uk. Daily Telegraph, 19 January 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
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