Turki Al-Sheikh looking at extending his sporting influence into darts with 'crazy concepts'

Darts is a rising sport around the world. There are more fans and demands for tickets at such events as the World Championships and Premier League than ever. With its popularity skyrocketing, there are people lurking in the wings ready to take their opportunity.

The PDC is controlled by Matchroom Sports, run by the Hearn family, specifically Barry and his son Eddie, who have revolutionised the sport from a pub game to a sport on the tip of the tongue of many people, with notable players such as Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen common house names, as the likes of Eric Bristow and Jockey Wilson was once before.

With its increasing popularity, there are very rich and powerful people who sight an opportunity to grow the sport to dizzying heights. One of them is Turki Al-Sheikh, a Saudi-Arabian politician with a bottomless barrel of money to spend, with darts catching his eye. He has already had a huge influence on boxing, with some of the biggest fights being held in the Middle East.

The three discuss the future

Barry and Eddie were spotted discussing the possible idea of Al-Sheikh buying a stake in Matchroom Sport, which already runs snooker, boxing, fishing, and nine-ball pool, along with darts. On their upcoming Netflix series Matchroom: The Greatest Showman, the three were at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium watching the Chris Eubank Jr Vs Connor Benn boxing fight in April, possibly directing the future of darts.

Eddie Hearn said: “This is another big night as we reach a very important time in terms of Matchroom’s future. My dad has no relationship with His Excellency. If we’re going to be working together on a deeper level, it’s important. This is even out of my depth, because it’s his company. It starts with him, it ends with him.”

“Every journey comes to an end," Barry Hearn said. "What do you wanna do? Tell me. And if it makes me smile, then we have a deal.” Eddie said: “Your Excellency, I explained to him about our conversations, about our deal with…” Al-Sheikh entered the discussion, as he said: “And I said to him: ‘We want the snooker and the darts'. I want to do the darts, but I want to do it crazy way. Crazy concept, yeah? Crazy play, something.”

Barry said: “We’re on a mission. We want to have relationships with people like you for a long term, in place, and then we want to grow a massive business. Because we can do anything, and we’re honest. And we need partners the same. We’re very choosy on our partners. It’s not just the money. It’s the relationship where we can work together. This is your legacy, Your Excellency. And this will be something that will go down in history.”

Al-Sheikh responded: “I can give you a long contract, three, four, five years.” Barry replied: “I want a 10-year deal with this. Let’s just go for it. Let’s build a massive global company.” Al-Sheikh said: “Let’s go.”

If this does happen, then there are multiple directions the sport could go. More money will be pumped into it, and with the rumours of a move away from Alexander Palace for the World Championships, Al-Sheikh could be influential in a permanent move away from North London.