We’re sponsoring the Champions League of Darts in Leicester this weekend where the top eight arrowsmiths in the world are battling for a £100,000 prize.
But that’s clearly not enough for reigning champ Anderson.
Asked by Paddy Power for the one change he’d like to make to the sport, Anderson paused before laughing: “I’d get Paddy to dig into his pocket and put the prize money up!”
He then turned to a laughing Paddy, who was watching our interview, and told him: “Put a couple more zeros on the end of that and we’ll be alright then!”
The same question was asked to Michael van Gerwen who joked ‘the list is too long!’ He then clarified: “No, no, no. You can always moan but you need to look to the bigger picture.”
But PDC referee Kirk Bevins – the 2009 Countdown champion, no less – at least gave us a sensible answer. He wants the crowd trolls to shut it.
“The easy answer what could I change out of darts is to stop the booing and whistling,” Bevins said.
“When people are going for doubles I love the drama, I love the atmosphere, I love the noise but when you’ve got one or two people just hissing and booing, that’s not good.”
Anderson might not be the only one benefitting from a £100,000 payday this weekend – the crowd could be in line for a windfall too!
We’ve put a special twist on the nine-dart prize fund which sees the cash given away to the audience instead of the player.
We're giving £100,000 to the CROWD if there's a 9 Darter in the Paddy Power Champions League of Darts!
Shame nobody told the players…
Tickets on sale now, buy here: https://t.co/GBB8GPkqR6 pic.twitter.com/lnriEe4l2m
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) March 21, 2019
It means those who witness the first nine-darter get a chunky sum back in what’s the biggest crowd prize in world sport. The sum was £50,000 last year – but there wasn’t one hit so it’s doubled for 2019.
Spokesman Paddy Power said: “We decided to up the ante from last year’s tournament and double the nine-dart crowd prize to £100,000.
“It’s a nice way of giving something back to the loyal darts fans at the Morningside Arena, though it’s probably not as nice for the players’ bank accounts. Oh well.”
Step up to the oche for the Champions League of Darts at PaddyPower.com