Professional organizations for darts
The badges worn by WDC players at the 1993 World Championship
Of the two professional organisations, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), founded 1973, is the older. Its tournaments are often shown on the BBC in the UK, and on SBS6 in the Netherlands. The BDO is a member of the World Darts Federation (WDF) (founded 1976), along with organisations in some 60 other countries worldwide. The BDO organises all British darts players, with the exception of a small group of professionals.
In 1994 a breakaway organisation was formed, initially known as the World Darts Council (WDC) but shortly after known as the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Over the years a continued exodus of top players from the BDO has established the PDC as the home of Professional Darts. An influx of sponsors and rapid expansion of television coverage continues. Tournaments are broadcast in the UK on Sky Television, – in the Netherlands by Sport One with many other tv stations now involved across the globe.
The PDC tournaments often have higher prize money and without doubt the best player in the world – 13 times World Champion Phil Taylor. Cementing the PDC’s dominance at the very top of the game in early 2006, four times BDO world champion Raymond van Barneveld moved to the PDC.
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