Network To Become US Home to Largest Darts Tournaments in the World with World Darts Championship and Premier League
New York – December 12, 2017 – It was announced today that BBC AMERICA will become home to the two largest darts tournaments in the world, the World Darts Championship and the Premier League. Darts is a pre-eminent world sport, drawing in ratings in the UK second only to soccer. The World Darts Championship premieres on BBCA on December 14th and is the biggest darts tournament in the world featuring 72 players representing 24 countries competing for the Sid Waddell Trophy. Premier League Darts will premiere on February 1st and features ten darts supsertars battling for victory in matches throughout Europe across 16 weeks. BBCA coverage will include a combination of live shows and highlights featuring the tournament’s latest action packed moments.
Sarah Barnett, BBCA President, commented: “Darts is a fringe sport like no other— it appeals to the obsessive soccer fan, requires the skill of poker and has some of the high entertainment quota of wrestling. As home to some of the world’s largest global franchises, adding a unique, world class sport to BBCA’s fresh and entertaining line up feels like exactly the right move, giving viewers a live fix of a spectacular world class sport.”
The World Darts Championship runs from December 14th through January 1st and BBCA will showcase weekly action on December 16th, 23rd, 30th from 9AM-12PM. January 1st will be a pre-show at 2PM leading into the live finale from 3PM-6PM. It is the biggest darts tournament in the World with 22 sessions of live play across 15 days and a record-breaking £1,800,000 prize fund. Premier League Darts runs from February 1st through May 17th and airs live on Thursdays with highlights on Thursdays and Saturdays featuring the days’ biggest action from 10PM-11:30PM. Here, ten superstars of darts battle over four months in Britain’s biggest indoor sporting event – and the 2018 tournament sees a visit to Rotterdam as well as a debut in Germany with a league night in Berlin. A darts event like no other – with the added twist of elimination for two players following nine weeks of play before the top four after 15 league-nights contest the Play-Offs.
All 87 hours of the World Darts Championship and all 16 matches of Premier League will be live streamed on bbcamerica.com/darts.
Facebook / Twitter: @DartsBBCA #DartsBBCA
BBCA acquired the rights from Matchroom Sport.
About BBC AMERICA
BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming including the Emmy®-winning Planet Earth II, top-rated science-fiction phenomenon Doctor Who, fan-favorite Orphan Black, ground-breaking unscripted series Top Gear, buzzy and wildly bizarre Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency starring Elijah Wood, as well as the upcoming series Killing Eve from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Planet Earth: Blue Planet II, the next chapter in the epic story of our planet. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) and AMC Networks, BBCA’s influential shows have attracted critical acclaim and earned Emmy® Awards, Peabody Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globes®. Created in 1998, the irrepressible network has garnered one of cable’s most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Available through cable, satellite TV and streaming services, BBC AMERICA broadcasts in both standard and high-definition. Get caught up, BBCA offers full episodes On Demand across all major digital platforms, BBC AMERICA app and bbcamerica.com. Find out more by visiting press.bbcamerica.com andfollow @bbcamerica.