Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2021-02-08)

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BloombergBusinessweek February 8, 2021

strangelittlebacchanalaroundit.

In 2014 the Scottish Football

AssociationinvitedHearnto givea

motivational speech. He took the

opportunitytoberateleadersforthe

organization’sfinancialfailures.“Even

if you’reuseless,I wanttoseeyouact-

inglikeyou’regood,”hesaid,accord-

ingtotheBBC.“Icanselllivefishing.

Livefishing!I’mgood,andyou’renot

goodenough.What’sgonewronghere

inScotland?”EverythingfromHearn’s

personalbrandingtotheatmosphere

insidethearenastothewaydartsis

broadcastonTVispartofonebig,

chunkysalesjob.It doesn’thavetobe

subtleorsmoothtowork.

Hearngotintodartsonlyinthe

early1990s,a timewhentheWorld

Championshipwasheldina smoke-

filledpubcalledtheCircusTavernin

EssexCounty,justeastofLondon.

ThePDC,whichwasstartedin1992,

first brought Hearn in to negoti-

ateTV deals;in 2001,itmadehim

chairman. In inventing the lager-

fueledgimmickrythatdefinesdarts

today,herelegatedanolder, more

traditionalleague—theBritishDarts

Organisation—to also-ranstatus. “I

havenotroublewiththeBDO,”he

says.“I’msadforthemthatthey’reso

uselesswithanythingremotelytodo

withcommercialexploitation.”

Thepositiveappraisalof“exploita-

tion”is keytoHearn’ssuccess.In2019,

Matchroom put on a sequel to a

much-maligned 2018 boxing match

betweenYouTubepersonalitiesKSIand

LoganPaul.Thiswasa contestbetween

nonathletes; according to Matchroom,

more than 1.2 million people purchased

the fight on Pay-Per-View. (After a draw

in the first match, KSI won the second

in a split decision.) “Being good is abso-

lutely fundamental in sport,” Hearn

says, “but being famous is where you

make your money.”

Which brings up Sherrock. “I’d

seen Fallon Sherrock’s name on a few

amateurevents,”hesays.“Butshe’d

neverwonanymoney.Andallofa sud-

denshe’sinthisridiculouscauldron.”

ThenshebeatEvetts,andthe“f---ing

worldwentmad,”hesays.“AndI told

mypeople,‘F---ingputherintheWorld

Series.’” (Manydartscompetitionshave

similar-soundingnames.TheWorld

Series,whichwassupposed to be held

last year in New York, is separate from

the World Championship. The PDC

selects who gets in, though the players

are usually the highest ranked.)

Of Sherrock, Hearn says, “To be

cruel, she’s a novelty at the moment,

you know? Now you’ve got to follow

that up with performances. Looking at

her career realistically, I say, ‘You’ve

got nine months.’ In that nine months,

maybe she can get to half a million

pounds. Worst case. The best case is,

f---,you’rereal.Sogetyourselfa carer

foryourchild,andgodoeight-hours-

a-daypracticelikethemendo.”

Sherrockhasa 6-year-oldautistic

son,whomsheraisesalone.In 2019

shetoldtheSun: “LookingafterRory

is a full-timejobinitself.I getmyfam-

ilytohelpwhenI’mplayingdarts,and

when he’s in bed is the only time I get to

practice.” Also: “He loves the fact that

I play darts. He’s really proud of me.”

The PDC has never actively culti-

vated the women’s game. Sherrock

landed at the World Championship by

winning a women’s-only qualifier. Deta

Hedman, one of the greatest female

players of all time, says Sherrock’s suc-

cess will not change much at all. “Barry

might give one or two more opportu-

nities [to women],” she says, “but not

too many more.”

Matthew Porter, chief executive

officer of the PDC since  2008, has

always been patient about the growth

of darts, maybe because it’s always

exceeded expectations. “There’s no

such thing as a darts fan,” he says.

“It’s not like you follow your team

because you’re from that town.

We’ve had to grow the concept of

a darts fan. Now, most people who

attend professional darts events

in Europe—they don’t play darts.”

The PDC seems to be taking the

same measured approach with growth

opportunities that Sherrock’s success

provided. “We know there are barriers

to entry,” says Porter. “It’s hugely male-

skewed, and that’s probably because of

its background as a bar sport.” Hearn

says, “If you try to look into a crystal

ball and say, ‘Where are we all going to

be in 10 years’ time?’ Well, hopefully,

going to the darts to watch men and

women on a level platform. How excit-

ing would that be?”

“You’re working to make sure that

happens?” I ask.

“Well—we’re not,” he says, smil-

ing. “This is the secret. We’re going

tomaintainopportunities.We’llgive

spotson key events. But we don’t

wannabepatronizing,orput’emin

becausethey’rebeautifulorbecause

it’sfashionable.”

Latelastmonth,HearnsaidthePDC

isplanningtoaddSherrocktosome

majorinternationaleventsoncethe

pandemic “subsides.” He added, “Covid

could not have come at a worse time

for Fallon Sherrock and her emerg-

ing career. It has been a big, backward

step in terms of changing her life, with

a hard pathway ahead.”

T

he PDC has gone about

10 months selling almostno

tickets, and it’s expecting to go

two more, says a spokesperson. Hearn

says 2020’s gate proceeds are down

£7 million but says the PDC has man-

aged to suffer only a 25% profit loss

during the pandemic and hasn’t lost

any sponsorships. “A profit is still a

profit in these troubled times,” he says.

“As ever, my glass is half full.”

The lockdown has created oppor-

tunities, too. Last April, the PDC

returned with the Home Tour, in which

“Being good is absolutely fundamental in sport,

but being famous is where you

make your money”