Former professional Roland Scholten has offered a blunt assessment of the PDC's relentless worldwide expansion, arguing that commercial gain rather than sporting passion is the driving force behind the global tour. "This is not done out of love for the sport, but out of love for money. Although that doesn't really matter," Scholten said. The former pro, who experienced first-hand how professional darts grew from a relatively small sport into a multi-million industry, does not necessarily see the large commercial interests as a problem. "No one has become worse off because of it," he added.
The PDC's international ambitions keep growing. For years, professional darts revolved around Great Britain and a handful of European countries, but the global tour now reaches every corner of the world — from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. For world number three Gian van Veen, that shift means he is on a plane more and more often. He finally gets to play on home soil again this weekend at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam, the final stop after a World Series season that covered thousands of kilometres. "I get to visit beautiful places, that's what you do it for. But I'm no world traveller yet, mind you," Van Veen said, noting that a free weekend in the Netherlands has become a rarity lately.
The key question is whether new countries truly warm to the sport, and that varies greatly by market. In Australia, the PDC need not worry much — Van Veen saw the interest up close. "There were five thousand people in the hall. Completely sold out," he said. Saudi Arabia joined the World Series for the first time this year, but public interest there was limited. PDC chief Matthew Porter does not see that as a reason to pull the plug on such projects. "We see it as building sustainable interest," he says. Bahrain is an example of a market that needs time; when the World Series landed there a few years ago, darts barely registered. Van Veen now notices a slow shift — during a school visit, he even saw the sport used in education. "I was part of the math lesson and gave a sort of demonstration."
The PDC also tries to spark interest by giving local players a stage at international events, which can produce surprises. In Australia, Brody Klinge impressed by reaching the final and posted a 104 average against James Wade. "He really is good enough," said Van Veen. Klinge's run to the Australian Darts Masters final has earned him a spot at this weekend's World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. Yet a challenge remains: any Australian who wants to face the elite regularly will ultimately have to be in Europe, where the vast majority of key PDC tournaments are staged. Moving to Europe can boost a player's career but also means a local crowd-puller appears less often at home. The PDC hopes more players can make that leap and then serve as flag-bearers for their countries. "Moreover, the sport is becoming visible worldwide now that more and more countries are represented in the competitions," says Porter.
Damon Heta proved that it can work — the Australian broke through internationally after winning a World Series event on home soil in 2019 and became a PDC mainstay. Kenyan David Munyua also showed at the last World Championship how much enthusiasm a player from a relatively new darts nation can generate. Van Veen sees the benefits of going global but adds caveats. "If you were to hold a tournament in Bangkok now, for example, I don't think you would sell thousands of tickets there." A calendar like in international tennis, where players travel from continent to continent almost year-round, is not realistic for now — the PDC has 128 Tour Card holders and cannot expect all of them to fly around the world constantly. The World Series will therefore remain the primary tool to explore new markets for the time being. For Van Veen, that means lots of travel, new countries, and more time away from home — though this weekend the distance is much shorter for once, as he steps up to the oche in Amsterdam in front of his own crowd again.
