Pdc offer to buy out Bdo

Gringo180

This is big big news in the dartworld its from the sun newspaper which id never read or believe but this is for real.




BARRY HEARN has launched an oche-rocking £1million takeover bid to end the bitter 16-year feud in darts.

Hearn's Professional Darts Corporation is offering to buy out the ailing British Darts Organisation in a bombshell move.

An open letter was sent yesterday to the BDO board and its 66 member counties to bring the sport under PDC control as part of a global masterplan.

Darts has been split by a huge rift ever since a group of players including 14-times world champ Phil Taylor broke away to create the first rebel tournament in 1993.

PDC chairman Hearn said: "There's been a lot of bad blood since the split and there still is among the old guard - but not me.

"We know what we are doing and want to invest in the future of darts. The BDO made £16,000 profit last year.

"The PDC made £1m profit, had a turnover of £9m and has roughly £3m in the bank. We know what we are doing and we think a £1m offer to bring darts under the control of a single organisation is the best way forward.

"In addition, we will invest £1m into grassroots darts - the county associations, youth darts and the women's game.

"The BDO love darts, we acknowledge that. But they have stayed stationary while we have taken it into the 21st century and want to make it a global sport.

"Our players earn good money now. The BDO World Championship has £250,000 prize money - we will have £1m at ours this year.

"But we also feel we should be making a contribution and putting something back.

"That's why we want to take the whole sport and use our expertise to take darts to even higher levels."

Critics of the PDC say it is a one-horse race, with world No 1 Taylor dominant.

Taylor has won 12 of the 16 PDC World Championships - as well as two BDO crowns at Lakeside Country Club, Surrey.

There have been 12 different champs at the BDO since 1994, although seven have since defected to the PDC.

Hearn's PDC tournament, which runs every Christmas, was forced to quit its spiritual home at the cosy Circus Tavern in Essex and decamp to Alexandra Palace in London to accommodate bigger crowds.

The split between the PDC and BDO is one of the most bitter in sport but Hearn wants to end the tungsten turmoil.

Hearn has promised to honour the BDO's broadcast contract with the BBC.

He added: "I see an all-encompassing PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace which will be a huge draw all over the world.

"Darts is going big-time with us. It's now such a popular sport and we only want to do what's good for its future and that's why we have come up with this very reasonable offer."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/2692231/Hearns-1m-to-unify-darts.html#ixzz0UWfyURLM



What do you lads think of this?

Kingp35

I don't know what to think really. Yes the PDC are a much better run organisation and they have done wonders for darts but they have made it clear in the past that they aren't interested in grass roots darts and only want to focus on the professional players. This makes me worried that they will make a balls of the amateur scene if they take it over. If they keep most of the same staff etc then it could work. It certainly would be great to have darts under the one roof, and there is absolutelty no doubt that of Barry Hearn managed to buy the BDO then he would abaolish it and put all darts under the PDC organisation and I believe that would be a good thing.

I really doubt the BDO will accept his offer though, Olly Croft is the dicator of the BDO and we all know he will never have anything to do with the PDC.

abouttobebanned

Those figures are hard to turn down though.

Gringo180

Kingp35 wrote: »

I don't know what to think really. Yes the PDC are a much better run organisation and they have done wonders for darts but they have made it clear in the past that they aren't interested in grass roots darts and only want to focus on the professional players. This makes me worried that they will make a balls of the amateur scene if they take it over. If they keep most of the same staff etc then it could work. It certainly would be great to have darts under the one roof, and there is absolutelty no doubt that of Barry Hearn managed to buy the BDO then he would abaolish it and put all darts under the PDC organisation and I believe that would be a good thing.

I really doubt the BDO will accept his offer though, Olly Croft is the dicator of the BDO and we all know he will never have anything to do with the PDC.

Agree with you there i would be very surprised if olly croft and chums did accept this offer, whats even more surprising is the profit the bdo made last year, "£16,000" that says it all really in terms of the bdo as a brand:eek:On another note where does the WDF stand in regards to this as there a completely seperate organisation to the bdo, its a very complicated matter to be honest

Gringo180

Newsflash

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/darts/8318633.stm

I find some of Ted Hankeys comments laughable :rolleyes:

Carrickman

Gringo180 wrote: »

Newsflash

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/darts/8318633.stm

I find some of Ted Hankeys comments laughable :rolleyes:

Christ he's some clown.

Gringo180

Carrickman wrote: »

Christ he's some clown.

Of the highest order

Find these comments coming from the bdo quite contradictory

Croft- "Barry Hearn is more concerned with filling arenas with ever-rowdier crowds and turning our great sport into a 'show' on a par with wrestling.

Hankey- "Look at the characters we've got at the Lakeside [BDO world championship] - Tony O'Shea, Darryl Fitton, John Walton, Martin Adams, myself - there's nobody at the PDC who's got a gimmick, all they do there is concentrate 100% on winning as much money as they can."

:eek::eek:

Kingp35

Hankey is an absolute twat of the highest order, he hasn't got a clue what he is on about.

Not surprising Olly turned it down.

Degag

Just saw this on SSN... not really sure what to think about it tbh. Doubt it will happen. Any player with any goals or ambition will join the PDC anyway, so it will always have the worlds best players.

The likes of O'Shea, Adams or Hankey could do quite well in the PDC but have none of the aforementioned goals or ambition and are happy to stay in the BDO under the illusion that the BDO is the best because it is the original organisation and to call themselves a "World Champion" if they win their WC.

Rented Mule

Gringo180 wrote: »

I find some of Ted Hankeys comments laughable :rolleyes:

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

Do you think that Hankey could ever be declared a World Champion in the PDC ?

He is going to be fiercely opposed to this move because the BDO defines who he is as a player.

ratinakeg

I never belief the crap written in the rag of a paper. It's official now though; http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~1832798,00.html

Gringo180

ratinakeg wrote: »

I never belief the crap written in the rag of a paper. It's official now though; http://www.pdc.tv/page/NewsdeskDetail/0,,10180~1832798,00.html

Same as yourself mate i hate that paper with a passion:mad:

Kingp35

Has it been officially turned down or is Olly Croft speaking for everyone as usual?

padr81

Rented Mule wrote: »

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king

Do you think that Hankey could ever be declared a World Champion in the PDC ?

He is going to be fiercely opposed to this move because the BDO defines who he is as a player.

No his season in the pdc defined who he is as a player, a nobody.

ratinakeg

Kingp35 wrote: »

Has it been officially turned down or is Olly Croft speaking for everyone as usual?

According to the BDO site it has been turned down!

http://www.bdodarts.com/

Don't think it's the end of that story though!

Gringo180

padr81 wrote: »

No his season in the pdc defined who he is as a player, a nobody.

Never knew hankey played in the pdc:eek:

mr.jingle

Hankey- "Look at the characters we've got at the Lakeside [BDO world championship] - Tony O'Shea, Darryl Fitton, John Walton, Martin Adams, myself - there's nobody at the PDC who's got a gimmick, all they do there is concentrate 100% on winning as much money as they can."

:eek::eek:[/QUOTE]


Hankey obviously hasn't heard of Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle and just look at his gimmick! He tries to pretend to be a pro darts player!:D

This will never happen not with all the 'old faces' in the BDO happy to battle for 'The World Championship' title

Devastator

mr.jingle wrote: »

Hankey- "Look at the characters we've got at the Lakeside [BDO world championship] - Tony O'Shea, Darryl Fitton, John Walton, Martin Adams, myself - there's nobody at the PDC who's got a gimmick, all they do there is concentrate 100% on winning as much money as they can."

is wearing a cape on walkon really a gimmick??

Rented Mule

Devastator wrote: »

is wearing a cape on walkon really a gimmick??

It takes away from having to look at his fugly mug.

Degag

padr81 wrote: »

No his season in the pdc defined who he is as a player, a nobody.

Not really.

I'm not sure if he competed in the PDC, (no mention on wikipedia) and if he did it was 12 years or more, maybe you're thinking of Martin Adams? In any case he's a different player than he was 12 years ago.

Second of all, i'm pretty sure he finished with a 93 average in last years BDO WC Final. It doesn't sound remarkable and it isn't but taking Phil Taylor out of the equation, it is a fairly good average. Even Wade and Barnevald, more often than not can be found in the surrounds of this average. I'm not saying that Hankey is as good as Wade or Barnevald but i think he could establish himself as a top ten player and probably make three times as much as he currently does.

His problem is though, as i alluded to earlier is that he rates the BDO WC at least on a par, if not better than the PDC WC. He is obviously deluded but so are Adams and O'Shea etc. If he wins another one, he will be mentioned in the same breath as John Part and if he wins another 3 he will be mentioned in the same breath as Barnevald - by alot of people - be they dart fans or not. Quite simply, winning the BDO WC is considered as good an accomplishment as winning the PDC WC when it simply should not. This is why, in my opinion he stays with the BDO. His accomplishments there will mean alot more (To him, to the media?) than any in the PDC.

Any Double !

I think things are better left the way they are with 2 organisations running their respective versions the game at 2 different levels. There isn't a hope the PDC (Phil's Dart Club) could or even would put the infrastructure in place to run Ladies, Gents and Youths intercounty, national and international events and as I wouldn't see them keeping any of the old faces at the BDO on for too long if they got their hands on it. Anyway I'd say none of the current County officials would want to work with them anyway. If the PDC had to run the intercounty scene as a business and pay everybody involved, they themselves wouldn't last spitting time as its volunteers that keep it going. The same here in Ireland for the County officials that keep the show on the road. Another thing is that there is nothing at all stopping the PDC from setting up their version of intercounty or international events as it is and they don't need the BDO to do that. Indeed they have had nearly 16 years since their formation to do it yet the upcoming Jocky Wilson event in Scotland is their only feeble attempt so far.
If they followed along the lines of the Non Profit making Irish Players Championship committee here in Ireland who without affilliation to either body run mens, ladies and youths and have helped bring the standard forward in leaps and bounds they wouldn't go far wrong.
On the other hand the BDO can't or won't step their game up a level to make it both more entertaining for the punter and more profitable for their star players. Climbing to the top of the BDO ladder doesn't seem to bring too many riches in comparison to the ''other side''.
The PDC of course have Players Championships events nearly every other weekend and have many larger events throughout the whole year than the BDO. One of their good Pro's can make a decent living and a certain few can even become wealthy but it certainly doesn't come cheap to compete at their competitions. Their main job is to make as much money as possible for the PDC and for the PDPA players.
Trying to get a bus on the of a frosty Sunday morning in Feb or March to go and gather a county team together just doesn't seem to be their cup of tea to me.
I think there will always be room for both and let the cream of the BDO players ...if they so wish.... have a go at the bigger pots available at the PDC. They can always move back again like a few already did if it doesn't work out.
ThE offer made was never large enough of course to be taken serious and was simply an attempt by Mssrs Hearne, Taylor and Co to get the BDO to respond negatively, which would put them in a bad light with the players looking on. Thus an equally clever response was needed from the BDO.
Do you think they achieved that ?? http://www.bdodarts.com/

Gringo180

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/more-sport/2009/10/22/you-re-talking-bull-115875-21764609/

That hankey really is not doing himself any favours here, I can just imagine the reception he will get at the GSOD

dionsiseire

the worst thing that could happen is the PDC setup grass root level setup, it would further dilute the competitions, the pool of players

even now the BDO and PDC have clashing players championships like the Tom Kirby and the Irish Matchplay clashed, from what i hear on purpose.

Its publicity, how the BDO would take 1million for a setup that has taken years to build up, it might not be profitable but its worth more than that, they just need to get out of the old fashioned ways and push their organisation forward to a 2010 standard

ciarraibhoy

My view is that the offer of £1m for the company and £1m to be invested in the grass roots is nowhere near enough. There are 67 member counties so that amounts to less than £15K a county. Below is a post from another forum which I think sums up the situation perfectly.


Reading between the lines there are fundamentally two or three things to come out of this.

The timing - 24 hours before the World Professional Draw - An interesting time to publish an offer of this type, or is it just to deflect attention away from this, hmmm I wonder.

On the flip side Barry Hearn will obviously be aware that there is a meeting of the Counties before Christmas and also that there would naturally be a board meeting at some point prior to the Counties meeting - therefore he will know that at some point this subject will come to the forefront again at the same time as the PDC are building up to their World Championship. A win win publicity drive either way.

The offer - £1Million for the company and £1Million to the grass roots - This is a headline maker which as has been posted earlier not a lot of money in the context of a one off payment as this type of money could be swallowed up certainly within three years and probably within two.

£1Million for the company is a derisory offer which does not nearly meet the estimate for a company in the position of the BDO.

On the flip side £1Million being put into the grass roots as a new project starter (Academies, School Liaison Projects etc) is a considerable injection and one in which the BDO would not be able to inject.

Before this offer can be taken seriously several questions have to be asked.

Has the letter been sent to Muswell Hill?

How would the PDC restructure the BDO?

Have the PDC been in contact with the WDF to identify on how they would view the position of the WDF?

On what and how would the injection of money promised be spent?

Is there a further injection of money available if required into the grass roots?

How much profit is there to be made from Academies etc and how quickly could this profit be realised?

Because of the size of the offer and the publicity surrounding the offer then obviously the counties will have a vested interest and subsequently this will be discussed at the next Full Council Meeting.

The press release by Olly yesterday was nothing more and nothing less than anybody was expecting.

The interesting point now the headline is out there is where is the substance to the offer?

Kingp35

Hankey is a very annoying man. He is talking to the papers saying that the PDC is boring because Taylor wins it everyyear and the BDO is great because anyone can win as the standard is so high. Is he saying that the other PDC players aren't as good as the BDO players because they can't match Taylor? Taylor would anihilate Hankey and everyone else in the BDO with ease.

Hankey you are nowhere near the best in the world and you should keep your mouth shut.

And I agree agree with both Dion and Any Double, good posts lads.

ciarraibhoy

Great piece by Dave Whitcombe

Anyone who plays county darts does so because they want to. They sign a registration form and make themselves available and in the hope that their super league record is good enough for selection.
In 30 odd years, I have yet to hear anyone ask “If I am selected what’s in it for me?”.

The vast majority of these players play county for a hobby as they do super league. A huge amount enter competitions for the same reason. They know, you know, and I know, who has any realistic chance of getting into the money, so again this is classed as a hobby.

Now I pay £2 to play super league. That money goes wherever, but the league is well run, is updated weekly, we get free software to record the matches, regular emails regarding competitions, so on and so forth, and it cost me less than a pint.

If I want to play county I have to pay £10 registration or there about which if selected gets me a shirt if I cant afford one, free transport anywhere, and a big reduction on hotels.

I find all that the most inexpensive hobby ever apart from collecting dirt.

Alternatively, I could join the PDC and play for big money. It would cost me about £500 to join, an annual top up fee, plus about £100 a time to go in a tournament. I would have to travel all over the place including abroad which a rough estimate would cost me about £20,000 a year.

Still not expensive compared to a hobby like motor sport, probably Golf, power boating, etc, but 15 -20 grand for most people wanting to play darts as a hobby is a little out of reach.

Okay so the PDC is about big bucks for big outlay while the BDO is the other end of the spectrum.

But who has the most members, which organisation does not slag off the other but don’t get the same in return, and which organisation would struggle without the other in place, and who can run without the other being there…

Nope, not a PDC/BDO thing that is mind numbingly boring because while a BDO supporter, how can I slag off the PDC for making players earn a great living.

No, its about perspective and I think the PDC die hards cannot grasp the fact that darts is played and organised in most part by people who don’t want anything in return, because its their hobby.

Kingp35

ciarraibhoy wrote: »

But who has the most members, which organisation does not slag off the other but don’t get the same in return, and which organisation would struggle without the other in place, and who can run without the other being there…

Very good article until this line. Both organisations are guilty of slagging each other off and Whitcombe should know that better than most. Agree with everything else he says though.

Carrickman

Barry Hearn responds:

HEARN QUESTIONS CROFT REJECTION

Barry Hearn has questioned the authority with which Olly Croft has turned down the PDC's £1m offer to buy the British Darts Organisation and inject an additional £1m into the grass roots of the game.

The Professional Darts Corporation's Chairman made the offer in an open letter to the BDO's shareholders - its 66 member counties - and directors on Tuesday, but quotes from Croft, whose position within the BDO is described on its official website as 'Founder', reject the offer out of hand.

Hearn, however, believes that Olly Croft as a Director of the BDO has a formal duty to take the PDC offer to his shareholders (the counties) to make the final decision.

"I don't believe Olly Croft is in a position to turn down the offer," Hearn said. "The BDO claim they have a democratically elected board and a county structure that form their shareholders - so why don't they go through the proper procedures to discuss this offer?

"Croft's claims are laughable: the public don't buy his ideas about having the two best tournaments in the World and I would ask him to prove one recent instance of where the BDO has supposedly ploughed its profits back in to darts for the benefit of its players.

"The PDC subsidises tournaments for the benefit of our own players: we offer bigger prize money, more opportunities for television exposure, attract bigger crowds and stage superior events.

"These aren't even boastful claims - anyone who has seen the two products will know they are accurate statements.

"The PDC wants to preserve darts long in to the future. The fact that the top players broke away from the BDO in 1992 and players continue to desert them for the PDC shows that the BDO has failed to do this in the past and is failing to do so again.

"I'm interested in the response of the counties to both the PDC's offer and Olly Croft's claims. They are the real decision makers and we have already heard from some of them that they are fed up with the way their Inter-Counties system is run with ridiculous schedules and heavy costs for scant rewards.

"It is up to the Counties to accept or reject this offer and I am happy to personally sit down with all 66 of them to discuss our thoughts.

"But I'm afraid that through his statement Olly Croft has again proved himself to be out of touch with the modern game and incapable of taking darts forward, at either professional or amateur level."

http://www.sportinglife.com/others/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=others/09/10/22/manual_143207.html

Carrickman

BARRY HEARN SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO SUPERSTARS OF DARTS

Following the very public announcement of the PDC's offer
to buy the British Darts Organisation for £1 million, PDC
chairman Barry Hearn agreed to answer the questions of darts
fans and interested parties via a Q&A session set up by
Superstars of Darts.

A small extract from the interview appears below with
the full interview to appear in the "Articles and Interviews"
section at starsofdarts.com later today.

Barry Hearn's comments are made without prejudice and are
subject to contract and made on the understanding that a
lot more discussions are yet to take place.


From Dartsani: Do you plan to make a similar to
Superleague/County system under the PDC umbrella if the BDO
and Counties turn down the proposal?

From CameronUk: Hello Barry, How you propose to run all
the championships currently organised by the BDO and how do
you plan to administer what will be a very cumbersome structure
with lots of well meaning and hard working amateurs in it?

We all believe that we should sit down with the County
Associations and discuss the future of their operation
and how it can be more rewarding for those who participate.
We hope the Counties understand that our contribution to
grass roots darts is based on the fact that we need their
support and we need the next level of players to come through
their systems to make the sure the PDC remains the very
pinnacle of the sport of darts in terms of professional
players. We do not at this stage have any alternative
plans because frankly the BDO county system is already
in operation, functions well and would be very difficult
to duplicate.


That does not mean to say there will not be changes and
certainly a more regional approach to super league/county
system is on the agenda for discussion but at this stage
we have no formal plans to run anything in opposition to
this system.

We do appreciate the magnificent job done by the County
Associations in these difficult times which has kept
amateur darts alive. We want to work closely with these
Associations and help them financially to maintain the
good work they do.


From Darth Vader: Mr Hearn, Olly Croft was very quick
to dismiss your initial offer for the BDO. Was this a
response that you were anticipating and are you hopeful
that the counties might be able to put some pressure on
Mr Croft to at least discuss the proposal?

I was not at all surprised at Olly Croft’s reaction and
as you would think I expected it and was not disappointed.
I do not really want to involve myself in slanging matches
on other individuals involved in darts, but the fact that
Mr Croft can come out with his refusal without taking
advice and without seeking his shareholders opinions is
frankly beyond my belief. I believe that Olly Croft
has failed in his fiduciary duty by not taking
instructions from his shareholders on a matter of such
importance. This is typical of a school yard bully that
until he is challenged will always get his way whether
or not that is for the good of the game or not.
Too much of the BDO comments seem to be representative
of those that wish to keep their position irrespective
of the success they have achieved within that position.
My world is slightly different - we are judged on
results and what we bring to the table and I think the
PDC offer illustrates that with a promise to inject £1
million into grass route darts financing. Where else
is this money going to come from? Do the County
associations need finance? The answer to these questions
is that the PDC way is the only way forward and the
alternative is the inept management that has been in place commercially
from the BDO from the past 20 years.
Surely no one can disagree from the fact the BDO have
made no commercial progress within their operation for
20 years. They are dying and the fact of life is
business is going to get harder and not easier in the
next few years. Within the British sporting scene the
BDO are a laughing stock when it comes to commercial
exploitation of the assets they own and this needs to
change now before it’s too late.

There is a County Association meeting in Coventry on
15th November and I very much hope that this whole issue
will be high on their agenda. Put simply the County
Association are the decision makers of the BDO and they
have the ability to insist that certain courses of action
are taken. They have the ability to instruct the Board
of Directors on how to proceed. I would hope that common
sense would tell them to instruct their Board of Directors
to initiate discussions between the PDC and the BDO so
that this proposal can be suitably analysed and then report
back to the members for their decision as to whether to
take the offer or not. This is the common sense approach
and one that I hope is followed.

Obviously there is a lot of debate to have within the
PDC/BDO scheme of things but if we are to bring about
a unified sport this decision needs to be taken now.
Action needs to be taken if we are serious about the
sport of darts moving forward and achieving these huge
objectives that it can achieve. For those that vote
against even discussions on this show that they wish
to hold the game back and not to even be aware of what
the real detail proposals can be. This would be
inexcusable and something that anyone who is negative
because of their own situation will have to bear with
them for the rest of their lives. This is a unique
opportunity and something that may not crop up again.
At the very least it must be discussed.

This is only a small extract of the interview -
read in full on starsofdarts.com later today.

dionsiseire

You mean this

http://www.starsofdarts.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17215

been there since yesterday

Reading it, i may now have been swayed to believing that Hearne could actually improve county level darts in england, and as long as he pledges to do that in other countries like Holland, Ireland, Spain, Germany then it would be worthwhile.

He seems to want to keep in place most of what already exists and just improve it somewhat, for the large part, your talking about having the funding in place that the BDO already provides to the counties PLUS the 1m which is about 15k per county per year (what county needs more than 15k to run i dont know, i imagine if a more global aspect is looked at you could see more than 1m invest and county's in holland, ireland, germany, czech all getting a few thousand each to run themselves more efficiently. Remember that these counties are doing their work on low budget right now, if they had a extra few thousand to pay to send players to the competitions or for some accom for a big one, it makes a HUGE different to the counties and the players.

Barry hearne will also increase revenue in the BDO Amateur tour and thus that money will filter down the line again to players and county boards.

I really hope the counties really consider this.

Kingp35

He certainly talks a good game but whether he can pull it off or not I'm not so sure.