Where is darts the most popular? Darts continues to rise in popularity with more and more countries showing an interest in the game. A total of 23 nations are represented amongst the 128 tour card holders on the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) circuit in 2024, including for the first time players from Italy and New Zealand. In 2023, the return of the WDF (World Darts Federation) World Cup after a four-year hiatus attracted teams from 49 countries, with players competing from the Bahamas, Egypt and even Mongolia! In this blog, Darts Corner will explore where is darts most popular, the countries where the game is growing in notoriety, and discuss how popular is darts in the USA. The Top Countries Where Darts Is Popular The United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands are considered the leading countries where darts is popular. A look at the list of 2024 PDC tour card holders show England (45), the Netherlands (24) and Germany (9) with the most representatives, whilst away from the professional ranks it is these countries that have a high-participation rate at a grassroots level. The majority of televised darts events are also held in these three countries and attract large crowds in the thousands. This includes the Premier League Darts roadshow which is held in some of the biggest indoor arenas across the UK, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands from February through to May each year. 1. The UK England’s Luke Humphries and Luke Littler embrace at the end of the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final. The match attracted viewing figures of more than 3.6 million on Sky Sports in the UK The answer to what country is darts most popular in is undoubtedly the UK. Our ‘A Brief History of Darts’ blog outlines the historical links between darts and the British Isles, with the game being traced back to England in the medieval era of the 1300s! Darts became an integral part of British pub culture in the late 19th century and the first pub darts leagues were introduced in the lead up to the First World War. The continued growth of darts saw it move from a casual pub game to a recognized sports profession with the BDO (British Darts Organization) staging the very first World Darts Championship at the Heart of Midlands Club, in Nottingham, in 1978. Several other organizations have held their own World Championship since then, including the PDC and the WDF, and they have all taken place in England. Over the next half century the UK has produced a who’s who of world class darts players including from England the likes of Eric Bristow, John Lowe, Phil Taylor and in more recent times Luke Humphries and Luke Littler. Jocky Wilson, Gary Anderson and Peter Wright are multi-time world champions to come from Scotland, whilst Wales has also produced its fare share of top darting talent such as Leighton Rees, Richie Burnett and Gerwyn Price. 2. The Netherlands Michael van Gerwen is regarded as the best player to come from the Netherlands having won 170+ professional titles during his career Why is darts popular in Holland? The boom in popularity for darts in the Netherlands can be traced back to the late 1990s and the success of the Dutch player Raymond van Barneveld. In 1998, ‘Barney’ became the first player from the Netherlands to lift the BDO World Darts Championship trophy. It was a victory that would send his home country darts mad with millions tuning in on TV to watch his landmark success at the Lakeside. Van Barneveld would win five World Championships over the next 10 years, with his last perhaps the most notable when he crossed the darting divide from the BDO to the PDC in 2007. The Dutchman’s clash with Phil Taylor in the PDC final at the Circus Tavern went all the way to a 13th set and a sudden-death leg, which he won on double top to move level with the late Eric Bristow on five world titles. A week on from that classic encounter, a 17-year-old Michael van Gerwen made his World Championship debut in the BDO. His own career in the PDC would take off five years later when he won the 2012 World Grand Prix, a title that would soon open the floodgates for ‘Mighty Mike’ as he won every PDC major, including three World Championships, and enjoyed a dominant seven-year spell as world number one. Van Gerwen remains the Dutch number one but there is a conveyor belt of new players emerging from the Netherlands, such as Gian van Veen, Kevin Doets and Wessel Nijman all aiming to wrestle away his crown. 3. Germany Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler are the two leading darts players from Germany and are both currently ranked in the world’s top 32 The rise in popularity of darts in Germany has been one of the biggest success stories in the sport over the last 10 years. In 2012, the PDC launched the European Tour with five tournaments across Austria, the Netherlands and Germany and over the next decade it has grown to become one of the most exciting tours in the world of darts. The surge in interest for darts amongst German fans shows no signs of slowing down with the PDC recently announcing seven of the 14 events on the European Tour in 2025 will take place in Germany. As well as hosting many European Tour events each year, Germany has been the country of choice to stage some of the biggest tournaments on the PDC calendar. The World Cup of Darts and European Championship are both held in Germany, whilst Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena is now well established as one of the host venues for the Premier League. German darts fans also tune in to watch the game in their numbers with the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final attracting viewing figures of more than 2.8 million on SPORT1. Max Hopp was one of the first players from Germany to make their mark in the PDC, winning European Tour and Players Championship titles in 2018. Ricardo Pietreczko became the second German to win a PDC senior title in 2023, with Martin Schindler joining that roll of honor with a victory on the European Tour the following year. 4. Australia Damon Heta is Australia’s top player and currently sits inside the top 10 on the PDC Order of Merit Whilst Australia may be more known for their outdoor and team sports like cricket, rugby and Australian rules football, there is also a strong darts scene Down Under that has produced some of the world’s top players over the years. In 2002, Tony David became the first Australian to win the BDO World Darts Championship and would go on to become the men’s number one in the rankings. ‘The Deadly Boomerang’ also won the World Darts Trophy and Zuiderduin Masters during his spell as the BDO’s leading player. Simon Whitlock is the most famous darts player to come out of Australia, with ‘The Wizard’ reaching two World Championship finals in the BDO (2008) and the PDC (2010), before moving over to the UK to pursue a full-time career on the professional circuit. Whitlock was the first Australian to win a PDC major when he triumphed at the 2012 European Championship. After dominating the DPA (Dart Players Australia) circuit, the late Kyle Anderson was one of the next players to follow suit and forge his own career playing full-time in the PDC. In 2022, Whitlock and Damon Heta teamed up to steer Australia to their first PDC World Cup of Darts crown. Heta came onto the radar in 2019 when he claimed victory on the World Series stage in Brisbane, before following in Whitlock’s footsteps and making the jump to England. ‘The Heat’ has won several ProTour titles since joining the PDC tour and in 2024 he broke into the top 10 of the world rankings. 5. Japan Japan's Tomoya Goto impressed on his debut at the PDC World Darts Championship in December 2024 There is a flourishing darts scene in Japan too where soft tip darts dominates with around an 80% share of the market. Most players prefer to play on an interactive dartboard as opposed to the traditional dartboard made for steel tip darts. 'Japan' and 'Perfect' are the two leading professional darts organizations in Japan, with players having to undertake written and practice tests to become professional players. These organizations run around 18-20 tournaments in Japan each year. Dartslive hosts the biggest open darts tournament in Japan called the Darts Festival. In 2024, this two-day event attracted close to one million visitors each day with matches played on the Dartslive soft tip machines. The number of entries across the tournaments held each day was between 120-300, with the majority of those attending going to watch their favorite players in action and visit the sales booths of the various darts manufacturers on site. In 2024, Professional Darts Japan held a Japan Tour for the first time which saw 154 players compete in 10 steel tip events, with the top 32 players from the final Order of Merit qualifying for the end of season finals. Tomoya Goto defeated Kenichi Ajiki 5-2 in the final to win the inaugural Japan Tour Finals and earn a spot in the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. Countries where darts is gaining popularity Singapore’s Paul Lim was the first player to throw a nine-dart leg in a match at the World Darts Championship in 1990 How popular is darts around the world? It is clear to see that darts is a sport which is steadily growing in popularity around the world. Looking at the Asian market in particular, where soft tip darts and electronic dartboards have been the dart game of choice for some time, there is now more clamor for steel tip darts and traditional dartboards. The PDC Asian Tour returned in 2023 following a three-year break with 24 events held across Asia in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, China and the Philippines. In Europe, Belgium could be one of the next darting hotbeds with a strong appetite to watch the world’s top players in action and also play the game themselves. Dimitri Van den Bergh is Belgium’s leading player and won his second PDC major at the 2024 UK Open, whilst this year marks the first time that the country has hosted two European Tour events in the same season. Other countries around Europe are showing lots of potential as a future darts powerhouse including Hungary, who are set to host the prestigious WDF World Masters in October 2024. Budapest held its first event on the European Tour in 2021 with the Hungarian capital now a yearly stop for the PDC tour. Poland is another nation where darts has seen a sharp increase in popularity, with 9,000 fans in attendance for the Poland Darts Masters, a World Series event, in June 2024. Is darts popular in the USA? The 2024 US Darts Masters attracted a record crowd for a darts event in North America as 3,600 tickets were sold for the tournament's final session One of the biggest markets for any sport to crack is the USA and the PDC are making waves with their annual stop across the pond for the World Series. The 2024 US Darts Masters saw a record crowd in attendance for a darts event in North America with 3,600 packing into The Hulu Theatre, in Madison Square Garden, for the tournament’s finale. A total of 7,500 tickets were sold across the weekend which shows there is an appetite for darts in the USA, but there is still a long way to go before it can be considered one of the country’s flagship sports. According to the National Sporting Goods Association, there are 17 million people in the USA who play darts. The ADO (American Darts Organization) has 100,000 registered players, whilst the CDC (Championship Darts Corporation) is the premier darts code in North America and runs a tour which offers spots in the PDC World Darts Championship and Grand Slam of Darts. Peter Citera, the CEO of the CDC, told the Weekly Dartscast podcast: “We’ve had darts coverage in North America mainstream media occasionally, with Fallon Sherrock and the World Championships typically gets some sort of mention. Luke Littler is now a regular topic of discussion and that can be the catalyst for more growth for darts here. We need to capture that energy into our (CDC) staged events and we want to make darts more of a mainstream sport in North America.” Looking forward: Embracing the future of darts Luke Humphries stretched his lead at the top of the PDC Order of Merit after winning the 2024 World Matchplay Darts has an exciting future ahead with the sport continuing to grow and reach more countries around the world. The UK, Germany and the Netherlands are all well-established darts nations and is where the game is the most popular, but as darts continues to spread into new and emerging markets, we can expect to see players coming through from all corners of the globe to test their skills against the world’s top players. Being one of the most accessible sports also means the game will continue to thrive and appear in more places. Darts Corner is the world’s leading online retailer and is your one-stop shop for all your darts equipment wherever you may live. Check out our entire range of steel tip darts and dartboards and start a darting journey of your own! Pictures: PDC
