HEARN SAYS ESPN COULD HELP TRIGGER DARTS AMERICA BOOM

EDDIE HEARN has teased a blockbuster breakthrough for darts in America after revealing ESPN could help “change the sport forever”.

The Matchroom Sport chairman says the PDC is on the brink of cracking the lucrative US market following a huge investment deal involving American firm Bruin Capital. 

Bruin last week bought a minority stake in Matchroom in a deal valuing the sports promotion giant at more than £1BILLION. 

Hearn believes darts could now explode across the Atlantic if a major broadcasting agreement is secured. 

The 46-year-old admits Bruin executives were blown away after being invited to Premier League Darts in Manchester before agreeing to invest in the company. 

He told City AM: “We’re good, we’re great promoters, we’re incredible salesmen, and my dad’s one of the greatest chartered accountants to live but there are levels upon levels, and this is going to help us unearth and crack those levels. 

“The key is the potential upside in the American market. The real growth from Matchroom over the last few years has been that global expansion, and that was something that I wanted to bring to the business.  

“If darts ends up doing a major deal with a US broadcaster, if it breaks through in the American market, which I really believe it can, it will change the sport forever.” 

Hearn realised the true value of Bruin’s backing during an event hosted by founder and CEO George Pyne in Florida, where he found himself sat next to ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro after previously struggling to make progress in talks.

He added: “All of a sudden, George is going to Jimmy, ‘have you looked at darts? Jimmy, this stuff’s out of control. We’ve done the numbers, we’ve been to these events’. 

“There’s nothing done with ESPN yet, but there could be, and that would transform everything in America.

“They [Bruin] have done their due diligence, and when they’ve seen the numbers [for darts] versus the numbers from boxing or pool or snooker, they’re looking at this business going, ‘this is a monster’.” 

Hearn also revealed he and his father, Barry Hearn, rejected a full takeover of Matchroom despite the company’s soaring valuation. 

He continued: “We’ve made a huge amount of money, but luckily I’ve got the same mindset where it’s like, ‘We’ve made our money, now we’re going to the next level’.

“Which will probably be a complete sale, or a float. That’s the next level, I guess. 

“We turned down a complete sale because we’re not ready for that yet. We still love what we do.” 

Bruin Capital’s investment has also come at the perfect time following Saudi Arabia’s recent slowdown in sports spending after years of huge financial backing. 

LIV Golf has been among the biggest casualties, while Matchroom has also lost one of its Saudi-based snooker events. 

Hearn insisted Matchroom has never depended on Saudi investment to remain successful despite the lucrative opportunities in the region. 

He explained: “We’ve never relied on Saudi ever to run a profitable business. It’s been a wonderful addition on many levels, because it’s given us a lot of financial success, but we’re not reliant upon them. We like actually working with them.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.