The popularity of darts in the Netherlands has dramatically increased tournament attendance since Raymond van Barneveld started winning the world championship. Darts became the second most popular sport after football after Raymond van Barneveld inspired the whole country, a phenomenon that has only been seen in Germany since then. For example, in the Netherlands, this has been mainstream news since the mid-1990s, when Raymond “Barney” van Barneveld made his debut on the world stage. The PDC World Championships have long been on the holiday calendar for British sports fans, but now Darts has gone a step further.
After talking to the Dutch fans, many great British professional players, and just feeling the passion and excitement at the Bavaria World Darts Trophy, it was clear that it was time for the Netherlands to flourish. The likes of Eric Bristow and John Lowe have brought darts to the Dutch attention, and fellow Stockporter Tony O’Shea thinks the Dutch like it better than we do. Looking at the Order of Merit from the professional darts board over the past two years, almost half of the experienced players are from England. Even without big names in the PDC rankings, England is still one of the best darts nations in the world.
When it comes to competitive darts, most top players come from the UK and neighbouring countries. Players The biggest and most important tournaments are held in Europe, and darts are very popular. Darts are popular in Europe, especially in England, and are mainly used as a casual pub game, although there are many lucrative professional tournaments in Europe every year. Many people play darts in Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, New Zealand, Japan and Russia.
Although darts are not as popular in some countries as in others, people who play darts can be found in every country. Countries such as Canada, Japan and Spain have large numbers of dart enthusiasts. Still, they are often overlooked because countries such as Canada are not well represented in terms of professional players. To showcase the diversity of darts’ popularity, players from Japan, India, Barbados, New Zealand, the Czech Republic and the Philippines participated in two World Championships. England’s once dominance in darts has been damaged; countries outside the UK have produced countless world-class dart players, so let’s see if England is still the best country in darts and what other countries are there as of 2020.
When he first won the BDO in 1998, there were only 16,000 dart players in the Netherlands, and now there are only 16, close to 50,000, and when he won the title, the Netherlands went crazy. In 1998, more than a third of the Dutch population saw Raymond Van Barneveld become the first Dutch player to win the World Darts Championship.
