Barry Hearn chats about Phil Taylor and an exclusive agreement with OpenBet

When iNTERGAMINGI chatted to legendary founder of sports promoter Matchroom Sport Barry Hearn in December, he was bounding with enthusiasm for the World Darts Championship that took place at Alexandra Palace at the end of the month.

“There is something very special about the World Darts Championship,” said Hearn. “You have 50,000 people over the duration of the whole tournament, it is the Blue Riband event, the darts players have had 61 different tournaments globally this year and this is the culmination.”

As Hearn points out, the Darts World Championship has grown year-by-year so that for many it is now another part of Christmas. Darts has never been this big, he stated, with the top players competing for £1m in prize money this time round. “Young people want high-speed action,” said Hearn. “They want an experience when they go to an event. I think darts delivers that. People want value for money.”

Matchroom and its subsidiaries Professional Darts Corporation and World Snooker recently signed an exclusive licensing agreement with sportsbook and online gaming software supplier OpenBet, to provide a range of online slots and mini-casino games.

The agreement saw the first PDC and World Snooker-themed games released at the end of 2011 in time for the PDC World Darts Championship and The Masters. Plus, a plethora of new casino content is due to be released in the coming year based on Barry Hearn’s leading sports brands and world class players.

This interview can be read in full in the first 2012 issue of iNTERGAMINGI