Now the dust has settled on both World Championships we'll start afresh.

New thread and a new era possibly on the horizon?
[urlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/darts/8451655.stm[/url

Be interesting to hear Wolfie's views should it go through

isnt half the interest in darts down to my governing body is better than yours? How would they fill he void

I hope it goes through. The only way it will do though is if Hearn sticks to his word about pumping money into the grassroots side of things and also honouring sponsers/venues/tournament contracts. If they can get that in black and white, then there shouldn't be a problem.

I'd love to see one true world championship and I'm sure many darts fans would. I don't think Wolfie will have a problem.

It'd improve the game without doubt. After honouring the contract with the Beeb, he should then look at moving to another broadcaster though. The Beeb were shocking at showing the Worlds this year, cutting off from the Hankey-Chisnall match when it was 4-4, so that they could show a nature program.



If they do honour the contracts with events / venues, then surely there won't be one true World Championship until that contract has run out?



If he lets his personal differences with Hearn get in the way, then he is stupid. I can only see the takeover having positive effects on the future of the sport.

Croft will be out of office before long once the counties get to see the colour of Hearn's money.

That was a shocking decision. They could have kept it on. If it was snooker, or Rugby Union or F1, they would have no hesitation in extending the coverage.

As for another broadcaster, if there does end up being one world championship, then wouldn't Sky just cover it as everything will be under the PDC banner?



Sounds about right. Hopefully if that happens, then there will only be the world championship affected and that they also keep the Winmau World Masters as another "major".



And that above, despite what other people say to the contrary, is the likely reason why Adams keeps rejecting the GSOD invites. It's nothing to do with him not having any bottle to face, as most people say, Phil Taylor (rather than the rest of the PDC roster which is what should be said). I think he's got plenty of bottle to get up there and face the best. He's played the PDC circuit before. The only reason he won't do it is these personal issues he has with Hearn. I'll agree fully when he says that he is loyal to the BDO, which he is (17 straight Lakeside appearances can back that up), but if he manages to sort out these differences, then it would be fantastic to see him playing alongside Wade, Barney, Jenkins, Whitlock, Lloyd, and yes, even Phil Taylor.

Plus he got a mention at the PDC Worlds a few weeks ago, so Wade holds him in high regard and I'm sure a few others do aswell.

Mr Croft is 80 years of age. The only way he will leave office is in a box.

I think this is a great opportunity for darts. The be under one banner will be excellent.

I still don't think Mr Adams will be in Wolverhampton in November. Despite his personal problems with Mr Hearn he simply hasn't got the bottle to take Taylor on.

So you'd be happy for Sky to completely remove ANOTHER sport from terrestrial?

If it meant that I could sit and watch a full day's play, or even a full match without getting coverage interupted for some other program, then yes, it wouldn't bother me.

There again they might stick more of the BDO events on TV, so viewers get to see more of the BDO regulars instead of just the Worlds and GSOD. Of course, ITV4 might well bid on these events, so that you can still see them on normal TV.

The Beeb's coverage is abysmal at best. Football, F1 and Olympics apart, they aren't bothered about other sports.

You forgot their love affair with Yawnion.

I knew I had read it somewhere about Adams not getting an invite again

[urlhttp://www.pdc.tv/page/GrandSlamDetail/0,,10180~1552480,00.html[/url

I'd agree with that. I think one of the reasons he wouldn't like it to be under one name, is purely because he knows he would struggle against the best in the PDC. I'm not a fan of Adams at all, and IMO, he would struggle to get in the top 15 or 20 in the PDC. He'd rather stay a big fish in a little pond, than give the PDC a shot, hence he won't play Taylor. He's not got the bottle like you say.

With regular play at the top level, Adams would be in the top 10 of the PDC easily. And I can't stand him either. Fact is he's a reasonable darts player.

I am guessing that would go out of the window mind you if the two organizations did merge.

Unless he gave up darts altogether, he wouldn't have much choice if he wanted to play in ranking tournaments.

On the TV debate, presumably if they wanted to honour existing contracts with broadcasters and venues the current BDO championship would have to become a major ranking event on the new circuit?

Be interesting to see how a merged organisation would sort out its world rankings system.

I thought that about the rankings, i am guessing it might be over a two year period tournaments carry on as they are but ranking points go on how far you go through a tournament rather than money earnt and I guess every player can enter whichever tournaments they like rather than be split BDO/PDC but I'd guess the World Championships would be the exception and how they decided who would go in which would be the crux of the matter as in theory both should be equal in terms of ranking points but do not think the PDC players will want that system for a start.

The Grand Slam would be rendered totally pointless in a new fully merged system as half its attraction is seeing how the 2 organizations compare when face up on on a one off basis.

Can not see the likes of Phil Taylor turning out for Staffordshire (or possibly Cheshire) or Wade for Hampshire and if the likes of O'Shea, Fitton, Waites etc would still want to if they were in the PDC system of ranking Players Championships every weekend is another matter.

I disagree. I think he would struggle, purely because i think hes hit and miss. Sometimes he can play very good, but then he struggles. There would be only one way to find out though, but unfortunatley, we probably won't because he doesn't have the bottle.

But who in the PDC top 16 is not.....Taylor, King and Wade apart surely that accusation could be leveled at all of them.

Surely he would not bottle it as much as Colin Lloyd or Ronnie Baxter.

Possibly, but i think they are better players than Adams, just my opinion. Like i said, it'd be nice to see what happened if he went across, unfortunatley, he isn't going to.

I wonder if Hearn is really 100% up for the merger now he is running snooker.

Seems funny that the BDO said nothing for months and perhaps they have wind that the PDC are not as keen as they were to fully merge and are calling their bluff.

The PDC have said they would honour all existing BDO TV Contracts.

And PDC Darts is not shown exclusively on non-terrestrial channels. The Grand Slam is available on free-to-air channels.

The Players Championship later this month is on ITV4 too.

I'd be interested to know what is written in the contract between the BDO and the BBC. If the Beeb have a contract to cover the World Championships and the event then ceases to exist, does that make the contract null and void meaning there is no contract for Hearn to honour?

Or could the directors of the BDO potentially find themselves in a legal tangle for breach of contract?

The BBC have the BDO World Championships till 2013. The contract was to finish after this years tournament, but the BBC extended it last September.

Not too sure what the contract is for the Winmau World Masters.