Scott Mitchell, the former BDO world champion, has weighed in on the debate over top players skipping ProTour events in favor of lucrative exhibitions. Speaking ahead of the WDF World Masters in Las Vegas, Mitchell acknowledged the financial pull of exhibitions, saying, “I don’t know how you reduce it because there’s so much money to be made from exhibitions at the moment. The top players are being offered huge money to play one exhibition match rather than grind through a ProTour event. From a player’s perspective, I understand it. But from a promoter’s point of view, trying to fix that is really difficult.”
Mitchell, known as “Scotty Dog,” is preparing for the WDF World Masters in Las Vegas, a tournament he is “really excited” about as he has never played in America before. “I’ve wanted to go and play there for a long time, it’s just been about having the right reason. And the World Masters is no better reason to head to Vegas,” he told Tungsten Tales. The 55-year-old has been balancing his darts career with commentary work and exhibitions, admitting practice has been hard: “It’s been unbelievably hard. There hasn’t really been any practice time in the last two or three months.”
Mitchell also discussed the impact of players like Luke Littler skipping ProTours, referencing Chris Mason’s view that it’s a nightmare for broadcasters. “I think something has to change because if top players are missing ProTours, and those rankings are being used for TV events, then it becomes difficult to sell those tournaments to broadcasters when your best players aren’t there. That’s the PDC’s headache, not mine.” He praised Littler’s handling of fame, noting, “He has moments where he gets upset, but people forget he’s only 18 or 19 years old. He’s not 55 like me.”
Mitchell, who recently became a grandfather, is enjoying a new perspective on life. “Being a grandparent is the best thing ever, so I’m making time for that too,” he said. He still has ambitions to return to Lakeside: “I’d really like to get back to Lakeside one more time. That’s probably next on the bucket list.” He also spoke highly of Beau Greaves, recalling a WDF World Cup in Denmark where she lost a dart, borrowed equipment, and “won everything with someone else’s darts.”
Looking ahead, Mitchell is not ruling out a Q-School return but wants to be competitive. He also expressed admiration for Luke Humphries, saying, “I’ve got a sneaky feeling about him. I think he could win the Premier League and I think he could go on and win Blackpool as well.” On the state of darts, he noted the increased depth: “Where there used to be maybe eight or ten players at that standard, now there are 40. That’s why we’re seeing so many different winners on the ProTour and in the WDF as well.”
