Why Is It Difficult for Darts Players to Get Listed Among the Sports Personality of the Year?

For darts fans like us, this sport is worthy of praise and recognition. However, worldwide, darts is still struggling to be recognized and appreciated as a sport. Many people, even on the professional sports scene, overlook darts and still consider it a mere game. Not surprisingly, darts is often overlooked when it comes to having players listed among the sports personalities of the year.

Darts was born on British soil. This country lists every year its major sports personalities in what is known as the BBC Sports Personality of the Year list. This is not merely a top, but a selection of the best players and whoever gets to be number one also receives an award.

As previously anticipated, darts players have often been overlooked when it came to putting together this list. A darts player hasn’t made it to the top three of the list since 1954. In the following decades, some players got close to being included in the list, but not close enough.

Even recently, in 2020, female darts player Fallon Sherrock was quoted in the betting but. Her Sports Personality of the Year odds were estimated to 100/1. Many darts enthusiasts have long debated about their favorite sport’s right to be included in the Sports Personality of the Year list.

Many have raised their concerns regarding a possible discrimination of darts players. Moreover, they were surprised and outraged to see that snooker players have had a far easier time getting listed among the biggest sports personalities.

As a quick reference point, keep in mind that snooker players have made it to the shortlist seven times by now. This happened before 1990, but it’s still a major development compared to how few darts players were taken into consideration for this top. Famous world snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is one of the players who made it to the list. Moreover, his odds of winning the award were estimated at 10/1. This is a striking difference compared to Sherrock’s 100/1 odds.

The only time when darts had good chances of placing a player in the Sports Personality of the Year top was 2010. This is when darts icon Phil “the Power” Taylor won the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) World Darts Championship for the 15^th time in his life. The same year, he also managed to get six other major trophies. These achievements placed Phil on the Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, to the delight of darts fans worldwide.

However, despite his outstanding success, Phil didn’t manage to win the 2010 Personality of the Year Award. He was the second choice, right behind National Hunt jockey Sir Tony McCoy, a legend in his sport.

All in all, it seems that darts still has to fight to get to the top in the competitive sports environment and gain a place among reputable sports. We are hoping that darts players will gain more credit and recognition in the years to come and who knows, maybe someday soon, we will see a famous darts player win the Sports Personality of the Year Award. Until then, stay tuned to our blog and check out our catalog for sturdy gear that can up your game.