Hearn vows passion, expansion and no “disaster of greed”
By Phil Lanning
NEW PDC Chairman Eddie Hearn has vowed that the “passion remains the same” after taking the reins of the sport.
Hearn took over from his retiring and inspirational figurehead father Barry with immediate effect earlier in the week and spoke for the first time today about his appointment on the PDC social media channels.
Talking to Dan Dawson, Hearn promised no “disaster of greed” like the ill-fated football European Super League and that they have still got “so much more to do” with international expansion and in the UK.
He revealed: “The mindset remains the same. The passion remains the same. The work ethic remains the same.
“When you look at a business like the PDC, that’s a business built on fun, built on providing opportunities for players. You must never lose that.
“You see what happened with the Super League this week the disaster of greed. I love growth and expansion but it has to be for the right reasons.
“That’s what my dad’s done really well with the PDC because he loves darts, he loves the players.
“We have a great board of directors. We’ve got Matt (Porter), Rod Harrington, they fight for the players. We’ll never take advantage of them or our situation by changing formats, change the sport and dominate the world.
“We want to do things the right ways and I think we are well placed.”
Hearn also revealed that the highly-ambitious Matchroom bosses have been surprised how darts has continued to grow and is delivering massive TV audiences.
He added: “It’s been unbelievable. I don’t think we ever realised it would reach the heights that it has.
“When you talk about international expansion, thousands of people at live events and the growth now in Germany and events in America. The growth of in the UK, the Premier League is a phenomenon. The World Darts Championship will remain the flagship event of sport in December. We also go to the Winter Gardens.
“It’s just a phenomenon. What people don’t understand is the TV ratings that darts delivers.
“Particularly for Sky and other broadcast partners as well. My biggest job is in boxing.
“Darts slaughters the boxing numbers. My old man will often remind me of that so will Matt Porter.
“But that just goes to show you that not only is it a great night out it’s also delivering phenomenal numbers for our broadcast partners. I still feel like we’ve still got so much more to do.
“I had a feeling a few years ago that we just might. How much longer can we keep riding this crest of a wave? This is testament to Matt Porter and the team. They are the ones that keep pushing the bar.
“There is so much more to do internationally. I still feel like we haven’t hit the ceiling in the UK.”