Sponsorship Opportunities

The British Darts Organisation (BDO) has been established since 1973 and represents the whole sport of darts from grass-roots right through to national, international, professional and world levels. This includes the BRITISH INTER-COUNTY DARTS CHAMPIONSHIPS, played from September to April/May and involving teams (men and women) representing over 60 counties in England, Scotland and Wales - plus the home country national teams (men and women) of England, Scotland and Wales.

The National sides are involved in the British Internationals and Six Nations Cup each year, and also fly the flag in the bi-annual World Darts Federation WORLD CUP and EUROPE CUP.


The BDO is responsible for the rules, regulations and standards by which darts is played, and its over-riding commitment is to the organisation, promotion, staging and administration of darts nationally, internationally and globally.

As such, the BDO is recognised as governing body for the sport of darts in Britain and, as founder member of the World Darts Federation (representing over sixty darts playing nations) is justifiably proud of its status as the most respected darts organisation in the world.

On June 3rd, 2005, the British Darts Organisation secured unanimous recognition for darts as a sport from the sports councils of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

On April 29th, 2007 the World Darts Federation (WDF) was unanimously accepted as a full member of the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) during SportAccord 2007, held in Beijing, China.


Which BDO Events Can Be Sponsored?

There are a wide range of BDO tournaments which are ideal for sponsorship, these include:

  • THE BDO BRITISH CLASSIC
  • THE BDO BRITISH TEENAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • THE BDO INTER-COUNTY YOUTH KO CUP
  • THE BDO BRITISH OPEN
  • THE BDO INTERNATIONAL OPEN
  • THE BDO GOLD CUP
  • THE BDO INTERNATIONAL GRAND PRIX

All of these events feature the current top BDO/WDF players.

PLUS: A WHOLE RANGE OF MEN’S, WOMEN’S and YOUTH EVENTS at LOCAL, COUNTY, REGIONAL and NATIONAL LEVELS and BESPOKE EVENTS SPECIALLY TAILORED TO SPONSOR REQUIREMENTS CAN ALSO BE STAGED BY THE BDO.


Huge Sponsorship Benefits

The BDO/WDF represents darts globally and as such can offer a potential sponsorship audience of millions of darts players – Men, Women and Youth – together with their families.

Know-how, Organisation and Professionalism Guaranteed

Sponsors will benefit from the fact that the BDO operates a fully-staffed London HQ, uses the services of a professional PR and Marketing consultancy, is administered by a democratically elected board of directors and as well as providing stage sets and expertise, also appoints the thousands of respected officials (including world class referees/callers) who officiate at all the darts events staged by the BDO each year.

The BDO works closely with other recognised darts bodies, including the International Darts Players Association (IDPA) which provides professional representation, information, guidance and benefits to darts players on a national and international basis.


SPONSORSHIP OF TELEVISED EVENTS

The World Professional Darts Championships have been staged annually since 1978 as a major BBC TV production. The BDO has been at the very forefront of terrestrial televised darts for over 30 years. Its knowledge and expertise has been utilised to establish darts as a major televised sport, attracting multi-million audiences throughout the UK, Europe and the world.

The BDO’s World Championships – featuring both a Men’s and Women’s World Championship - is established as the first major sporting event on nationally-networked terrestrial television each year. BBC TV Sport screen the World Championships for 9 consecutive days each year.

TV AUDIENCES

The 2009 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship Men’s Final was seen by 4.5 million viewers on BBC TV. The excellent figures represented a 13% audience share. Every dart was seen on BBCi, and via BBC Worldwide and Eurosport Asia it was available in more than 100 countries around the globe. This combines to produce the biggest TV audience for darts: A potential available world audience of approx.100 MILLION!

The 2008 WINMAU WORLD MASTERS enjoyed an average audience of 1 million on Saturday, December 6th (11.3% share) with a peak of 1.5m (12.5%). On Sunday, December 7th the average was 1.2m (9.0% share) with a peak of 1.8m (10.3%) for the final.

BBC Worldwide, the marketing arm of BBC TV, offers the World Championships to a host of countries and a three-year agreement with Eurosport Asia means that Lakeside World Darts will be available to new audiences across both its European and Pan-Asian networks until 2011. Dutch TV station SBS-6 has been televising live and recorded coverage of the World Championships since 1998 and serves a huge audience in The Netherlands and greater Europe.

The World Championships attract media interest from all over the world and the Press Office at Lakeside Country Club, the undisputed ‘Home of World Darts’ has had to be extended to accommodate the ever-growing numbers. The media includes journalists and photographers representing national and regional press throughout the UK and Europe, regional and national radio (BBC Radio 5 Live broadcast from the World Championship), additional TV crews and film/documentary/news TV crews.

The coverage over 9 days of competition is immense, and the real bonus is that it offers ‘name and product’ identity on both nationally networked BBC-1 and BBC-2 television at different times throughout the week: afternoon and evening highlight programmes, culminating in the live and uninterrupted World Championship final on BBC-2 on the concluding Sunday of the Championships.

There is another bonus contained in the fact that the Men’s World Championship has been complemented by the Women’s World Championship – offering a broader audience for potential sponsors.

The BDO LAKESIDE WORLD PROFESSIONAL DARTS CHAMPIONSHIPS are a unique sponsorship opportunity. The Lakeside Complex has been host venue since 1986 and is known globally as ‘The Home of World Darts’. Lakeside has also been main title sponsor since 2004, but there are possibilities for co-sponsorship or peripheral sponsorship.

BBC TV Sport has televised the finals of the WINMAU WORLD MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS since 2001. This is the oldest established darts tournament in the world (first played in 1974) and has four separate finals: Men’s Masters, Women’s Masters, Boys Masters and Girls Masters.

It is televised live on both BBC-1 and BBC-2. The Winmau Dartboard Company is the title sponsor, but additional sponsorship opportunities are available.


BENEFITS TO SPONSORS

  • Name associated with the event
  • Name on all printed/promotional materials
  • Signage at venues
  • Logos to complement the above
  • Professional publicity via the BDO’s own PR Consultant to provide publicity access to:
    • TV/satellite/cable/radio
    • Darts World magazine
    • National/regional media
    • Teletext/Ceefax
    • BBC/BDO/WDF/IDPA websites and other links

PLUS:

Excellent visual and name impact to a large group of consumers.

Association with a family orientated sport with strong, established social values and links.

Darts Players tend to have strong family values and are socially active and aware.

The majority enjoy:

  • Drinking and socialising in pubs and clubs
  • Reading daily newspapers and a variety of magazines.
  • Good relationships, children and extended families.
  • Gambling
  • Regular holidays.
  • Are car drivers
  • Earn average/above average salaries
  • Are mortgage payers.
  • Take out insurances
  • Use credit/debit cards
  • Use a mobile telephone
  • Have access to a personal computer at home.

Ideal product/service areas for Sponsorship:

    Drink Brands/breweries/pub chains Bookmakers/on-line betting companies Newspapers/magazines Leisure/restaurants/fast-food Holidays/holiday parks/caravans/timeshare/travel operators/airlines Companies selling darts equipment Vehicles: cars/caravans/garages/retailers Insurance: motor/home/personal Pensions/investment/ISA’s Credit cards The food industry generally Household/electrical retailers/D-I-Y stores/furnishing Computers/internet Mobile phones TV/cable/digital service providers Mortgage providers/banks/building societies Loan companies

DARTS: Statistical Information:

Darts is played and enjoyed by a broad section of the public – men, women and youth – and offers an incredible ‘reach’ for sponsors. It is estimated that SEVEN MILLION people play darts in the UK. Of these, approximately TWO MILLION play their darts at organised, competitive levels.

Over 50% of the adult population in the UK express an interest in darts: 5.7 million men and 3.1 million women are darts fans (TGI 2003).

Almost one-quarter of all adults have played darts

Darts is the fourth most popular participation sport in the UK

Britain has produced SIXTEEN WORLD PRO CHAMPIONS

British teams have won the WDF WORLD CUP on FOURTEEN occasions

British teams have won the WDF EUROPE CUP on THIRTEEN occasions

Age breakdown:
18 - 24 11%
25 - 34 21%
35 - 44 18%
45 - 54 16%
55 - 64 13%
65+ 21%

Socio-economic Groups:
AB4 11%
C1 27%
C2 23%
DE 29%
Regional Split: SCOTLAND 9% NORTH & MIDS 25% LONDON & ANGLIA 20% SOUTH EAST 32% SW & WALES 14% TV Viewers for Darts REGULAR 40% OCCASIONAL 43% Source: RSL Leisure Monitor A survey has revealed that 19.6% of the UK population watch multi-channel TV (satellite/cable/digital) while a massive 80.4% tune-in to terrestrial TV (BBC-1, BBC-2, etc). Growth: The growth of darts is perhaps best illustrated by the increase in youth and women’s darts in the UK. Youth players (boys and girls) are well catered for in the County system and are also included in major Championships like the Winmau World Masters. Youth players not only enjoy the competitive element of darts, but also the social benefits that it provides. More women than ever before are now playing darts up to, and including, the highest competitive levels nationally, internationally and worldwide. The BDO includes women in all of its competitions and introduced the first ever Women’s World Championship as an integral part of the World Professional Darts Championships in 2001. Standards: In all BDO/WDF tournaments players must adhere to a strictly observed dress code. This stipulates that all players must be smartly attired at all times. THE DRINKING OF ALCOHOL AND THE SMOKING OF TOBACCO IS PROHIBITED ON STAGE IN BDO/WDF COMPETITIONS. THERE IS ALSO A STRINGENT DRUGS POLICY. Summary: As a direct result of BDO/WDF rules and standards, modern day darts players tend to be younger, fitter and generally more image conscious than their latter-day counterparts. As such, BDO darts is ideally suited to sponsorship because it enjoys an enviable reputation as a national/international/worldwide sport, established, recognised, played and enjoyed by millions. WHY BDO DARTS OFFERS EXCELLENT SPONSORSHIP RETURNS: · It attracts huge family-orientated TV audiences · It is a fast, exciting sport, easy and enjoyable to watch · It is accessible, affordable and socially enjoyable · It has no language or cultural barriers · It can be played by both sexes · Its rules are easy to understand · It can be tailor-made to suit any sponsor · IT IS PROFESSIONALLY ORGANISED, PROMOTED, STAGED and ADMINISTERED by the BDO For further information on the BDO: www.bdodarts.com For more details of sponsorship opportunities contact: ROBERT HOLMES robertgholmes@hotmail.com T: 0781-0047925