Who will broadcast the next Darts World Cup?
Commenting on the World Cup for Sport1 from Munich: Basti Schwele (left) and expert Robert Marijanovic
Those: Sport1
Sport1 has been showing the Darts World Cup on German TV since 2004. DAZN was added five years ago. Now the contract expired. The broadcaster would like to keep the rights. But there is a problem. And that was already visible in the current broadcasts.
Mith the final between Peter Wright and Michael Smith, the 29th World Darts Championship ends on Monday evening. While the tournament ends on time and as planned, despite massive corona problems in the meantime, those responsible behind the scenes have to extend the overtime with some partners. It is also about what remains the most interesting market for the Professional Darts Corporation: Germany.
Unlike in the past, no agreement could be reached in advance about the allocation of TV rights in the country of the World Cup participants Gabriel Clemens, Florian Hempel, Martin Schindler and Fabian Schmutzler. So who is broadcasting the next Darts World Cup?
Arrows have been throwing at Sport1 since the 2005 World Cup. The Munich broadcaster has done pioneering work for sport in Germany with the broadcasts and has been rewarded for many years with millions of coverage and constant growth rates. Even the last tournament became the second most successful World Cup in the history of broadcasts, despite the ghost games in the empty Ally Pally. More than 500,000 viewers tuned in on average over the entire duration: an increase of 16 percent over the previous year. More than two million Germans take part in the final every year.
And the numbers were also right at the current World Cup. The semi-finals on Sunday were followed by an average of 1.07 million viewers, with 1.49 million at the top. Every 20th TV viewer switched on darts. The million mark at this tournament was broken for the eighth time. A novelty. And that although the broadcaster has had to share viewers with the DAZN streaming service since the 2018 World Cup. The Munich broadcaster is only a sub-license holder.
“Darts has developed into a top sport in the media landscape. In terms of reach, frequencies and emotions, darts is perhaps already number two in Germany, “said Olaf Schröder, CEO of Sport1, the industry service” dwdl.de “before the start of the Darts World Cup in December 2021.
A time when everything in the past was always dry. The last five-year contract extension was announced four months before it expired. Back then, in September 2016, DAZN was added as a streaming service for the German market.
If Sport1 has its way, nothing should change in the coming years. We are confident that we will be able to conclude a corresponding deal in the coming days. But time is running out because the package includes not only the World Cup, but also all other major darts tournaments, including the Premier League, which starts on February 3rd.
It’s no secret that the sport and its three-week event have sparked desires among the competition too. As early as 2016, Pro7 and RTL, among others, were seriously considering entering poker.
In order to continue showing darts, Sport1 will have to stretch, and the question remains how much leeway is available to the broadcaster. The company posted a loss of 16.7 million euros in the first three quarters of 2021 and had parted with its transmission rights to the German ice hockey league DEL in November during the current season.
A deep step, as the broadcaster was primarily for three sports and formats in the public eye: the Sunday soccer discussion round “Doppelpass”, ice hockey and darts. All the more surprising was the decision that Sport1 had not sent a team to the start of the World Cup in London for the first time in many years.
For cost reasons, reporter Jana Wosnitza should only report live from the Alexandra Palace after Christmas. Due to the changed return travel regulations with a 14-day quarantine, the broadcaster even stayed away from the event at the end. A no-show that was not well received by the hosting Professional Darts Corporation.
Wasn’t allowed to go to London this time: Reporter Jana Wosnitza
Those: Sport1
Schröder is nevertheless confident that his broadcaster will continue to host the flying arrows in this country: “We are in a positive exchange with DAZN about a possible extension of the darts rights.”
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