[Other Sport] Darts girls face axe

[ManOfSussex]

Darts is nowhere near as big and the audience is nowhere near as wide as it used to be , and do you REALLY think tbat the sort of woman who could be persuaded to either watch darts on tv or go along in person will be influenced by whether there are scantily clad females or not ?

Not as big as it used to be? Look at the growing prize money PDC players are getting, the growth internationally, in terms of events and players - The Premier League starting on Thursday in Dublin has a date in Berlin for the first time, on top of The Netherlands-more and more global TV networks are taking coverage of PDC events. Barry Hearn has said it's the only sport that's seeing it's domestic TV audience grow as well as the growth in new audiences globally. Barry Hearn has his commercial reasons for dropping walk on girls, other than just the publicity it's generated.

 

[Megazone]

Yet another fashion industry impossible female body type

Wow! I always thought she was fit on the Adams family.

 

[Simster]

A commercial decision they have gaken in response go "pressure" from people who wouldnt be seen dead at the darts or watching on tv.

If that was true then it probably wasn't "pressure" at all. These decision makers would have simply said "but you wouldn't be seen dead at the darts or watching on tv". It's just a fact that darts is trying to move with the times in a reasonable attempt to stay relevant (as it has done very successfully in the past decade or two) .

If it doesn't, it'll go the same way as speedway, wrestling with Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, and various other third tier sports.

 

[Hornblower]

I didn't realise they'd make a come back

Cheers! Always nice to get the occasional mention.

 

[Postman Pat]

Not as big as it used to be? Look at the growing prize money PDC players are getting, the growth internationally, in terms of events and players - The Premier League starting on Thursday in Dublin has a date in Berlin for the first time, on top of The Netherlands-more and more global TV networks are taking coverage of PDC events. Barry Hearn has said it's the only sport that's seeing it's domestic TV audience grow as well as the growth in new audiences globally. Barry Hearn has his commercial reasons for dropping walk on girls, other than just the publicity it's generated.

Barry Hearn wants them to stay!

Not long after, PDC chairman Barry Hearn disproved the prediction of the number one in the world. “As long as I am the boss, they will not disappear. Call me old-fashioned, but I think the walk on-girls is great and provides entertainment. In my opinion, they belong to darts, “Hearn said in conversation with the Dutch newspaper.

--------------

Dartsnews.com understands that walk-on girls are soon to be a thing of the past in PDC events.

It was previously understood that only tournaments shown on Sky would be shorn of walk-on girls. Barry Hearn vowed not to allow the pairing of models with players taking to the stage to disappear. “In my opinion, they belong to darts,” Hearn claimed.

But he has been met with opposition, who claim the regular feature of PDC tournaments is now outdated. Michael van Gerwen told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that “darts is ready for the next step”. Now it is believed that no televised event will feature walk-on girls. ITV and the BBC, as well as Sky, have committed to removing them.

It's the TV companies that have made this decision.

Oh and BTW:
Mirror Sport understands, however, that dancing girls on stage – with whom players, notably world No.2 Peter 'Snakebite' Wright, often interact when they make their entrance – WILL be part of the show when the Premier League season opens in Dublin next Thursday.

 

[BrianWade4]

The times they are a changing. Are people really so desperate to see busty women grinning vacuously into the middle distance?

No.
No one is.
Never have been.

 

[Buzzer]

in the case of Nazi Paikidze it's a wider cultural issue in that part of the world which can only really be resolved with a couple of generations of education, and this is already being done..

Sorry but I strongly disagree with this. It can be addressed directly by pressure groups, politicians and celebrities coming out and supporting Ms Paikidze and encouraging other women to make a stand against it. To say that her boycott was not the way to try to fix it as you have done - you've said the only way it can be resolved is a long period of education - is frankly ignoring it.

In football there's a wider cultural problem with racism in a lot of Eastern Europe, would you also say this can really only be resolved by generations of education? I agree that education is ultimately the answer but black footballers shouldn't be asked to tolerate it until some golden age in the future when everyone is a little bit more enlightened. - And they aren't, there are sanctions and fines and everyone is very aware of this because lots of people have made a lot of noise about how black footballers are being abused.

I think exactly the same thing should happen in any sport where there is discrimination but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an appetite to champion the cause of people like Nazi Paikidze either from the sports bodies or from equal rights groups and although no-one will admit it, I think this is in a large way due to being scared of opening up yet another front in this ongoing struggle between Western liberal versus Middle Eastern values. I do understand why it's so fraught with danger and I don't pretend to have any answers but ignoring the problem and focusing solely on softer targets does no-one any favours.

 

[Motogull]

Barry Hearn wants them to stay!

“... I think the walk on-girls ... provides entertainment"

Stone me. He's easily pleased. I find a decent checkout entertaining myself.

As I motorcycle racing fan, grid girls are just garnish. I wouldn't notice if none were there. That said, there are legitimate agencies getting decent pay days for the girls.

I looked at it from a different angle. What if the premier league announced walk on girls instead of kiddie mascots? That would be a bit weird wouldn't it?

 

[cunning fergus]

I watched this recently, I thought it was interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDK7EiDm1Lk

Will take a look, but I would guess the programme unpicks the complexities of the first English civil war. The contemporary narrative is about the supremacy of monarchy or Parliament, yet on the ground it was essentially about religion. Plenty of people fought on the Royalist side not because they supported the King and his Catholic wife, but because they hated the extremism of puritans like Cromwell.

He was ultimately undone thankfully, bestowing the Lord Protector role he had assumed after the civil war to his own son (like a king). Oliver Cromwell was just a fore runner of Neil Kinnock.

 

[scamander]

Barry Hearn wants them to stay!

Not long after, PDC chairman Barry Hearn disproved the prediction of the number one in the world. “As long as I am the boss, they will not disappear. Call me old-fashioned, but I think the walk on-girls is great and provides entertainment. In my opinion, they belong to darts, “Hearn said in conversation with the Dutch newspaper.

--------------

Dartsnews.com understands that walk-on girls are soon to be a thing of the past in PDC events.

It was previously understood that only tournaments shown on Sky would be shorn of walk-on girls. Barry Hearn vowed not to allow the pairing of models with players taking to the stage to disappear. “In my opinion, they belong to darts,” Hearn claimed.

But he has been met with opposition, who claim the regular feature of PDC tournaments is now outdated. Michael van Gerwen told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad that “darts is ready for the next step”. Now it is believed that no televised event will feature walk-on girls. ITV and the BBC, as well as Sky, have committed to removing them.

It's the TV companies that have made this decision.

Oh and BTW:
Mirror Sport understands, however, that dancing girls on stage – with whom players, notably world No.2 Peter 'Snakebite' Wright, often interact when they make their entrance – WILL be part of the show when the Premier League season opens in Dublin next Thursday.

I heard this and did wonder, either it's a very clever marketing ploy to generate a bit of faux outrage and get darts into the headlines (a bit like when a cereal or chocolate bar says it's going to change its name and then backs down).

Alternatively it's Hearn realising he needs to reposition the darts as somehow affected by this, rather than it being their decision. Playing the "I want to keep 'em guv but it's those bleedin snowflakes" line is class 101 in sidestepping any responsibility and thus keeping any customers/fans onside with him.

This is a commercial decision but making it somehow enforced upon them from mysterious outside forces is an easy sell.

 

[Sulcy]

Jeez this forum is showing its age. If you want to watch darts, watch darts. If you want to look at pretty girls there's this new crazy thing called 'The Internet'.

 

[Postman Pat]

Jeez this forum is showing its age. If you want to watch darts, watch darts. If you want to look at pretty girls there's this new crazy thing called 'The Internet'.

That isn't the issue here. The point is some TV executive has decided to remove them on the basis someone somewhere might be offended by them given all the recent scandals.

This is despite no one really complaining about them and the women doing it enjoying it and making a lot of money from it, both from the events and other gigs as a result.

A steak pie isn't an integral part of football, but if someone banned it from all grounds in case a vegetarian was offended it would be a bit weird.

If you want to watch football, watch football. If you want a pie go to Greggs, you just can't do both anymore.

 

[The_Viper]

Lots and lots of men coming out of the woodwork in here trying to keep that 1950s control over their women. Who are you to tell them what they can or cannot do? Presuming you know better than these feeble women that make you uncomfortable by seizing their sexuality and doing with it what they will is so anti equality.

 

[A1X]

That isn't the issue here. The point is some TV executive has decided to remove them on the basis someone somewhere might be offended by them given all the recent scandals.

Was that the reason given? I never saw the TV company explanation so would appreciate a link. Ta.

 

[Postman Pat]

Was that the reason given? I never saw the TV company explanation so would appreciate a link. Ta.

"We regularly review all aspects of our events and this move has been made following feedback from our host broadcasters," a spokesperson told the Press Association.

An ITV spokesperson added: "The decision was taken in consultation with ITV and we fully endorse this move."

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...dc-masters-milton-keynes-tv-itv-a8180876.html

 

[A1X]

Right. So not "because someone might be offended" then.

 

[Kaiser_Soze]

Right. So not "because someone might be offended" then.

Below is the transcript from a Barry Hearn interview earlier today.

“We’re living in changing times – the PC brigade, the liberal brigade are out in strength and it’s causing changes in sport everywhere we look and it’s probably going to get worse.

“I have no personal problems whatsoever with walk-on girls in darts. None. They’ve been there from the beginning.

"I think the girls are great, they get paid and it’s a job for them. I haven’t got a problem.

"But I do have a big problem in the age we live in – I’ve got the BBC, ITV and Sky, my three UK broadcasters, saying to me this is not part of their editorial policy any longer. They do not want to show the walk-on girls on television.

I think it's fair to say that "not in our editorial policy" is fluffy euphemism bullshit that equates to "there is growing negative publicity about the use of walk on girls in darts and boxing plus grid girls in F1. We don't want to get dragged into it so please put a stop to it."

For the record, walk on girls don't add anything for me at the darts nor do they take anything away. Companies and sponsors have been using attractive people to sell products/advertising for years. If everyone wants equality, I look forward to being offered an underwear modelling deal by Calvin Klein. I mean I'm 4 stone overweight and a hairy bugger but why should that matter

 

[A1X]

Sorry but I struggle to take anyone who uses the phrase "the PC brigade" seriously on pretty much any subject.

 

[BadFish]

Below is the transcript from a Barry Hearn interview earlier today.

“We’re living in changing times – the PC brigade, the liberal brigade are out in strength and it’s causing changes in sport everywhere we look and it’s probably going to get worse.

“I have no personal problems whatsoever with walk-on girls in darts. None. They’ve been there from the beginning.

"I think the girls are great, they get paid and it’s a job for them. I haven’t got a problem.

"But I do have a big problem in the age we live in – I’ve got the BBC, ITV and Sky, my three UK broadcasters, saying to me this is not part of their editorial policy any longer. They do not want to show the walk-on girls on television.

I think it's fair to say that "not in our editorial policy" is fluffy euphemism bullshit that equates to "there is growing negative publicity about the use of walk on girls in darts and boxing plus grid girls in F1. We don't want to get dragged into it so please put a stop to it."

For the record, walk on girls don't add anything for me at the darts nor do they take anything away. Companies and sponsors have been using attractive people to sell products/advertising for years. If everyone wants equality, I look forward to being offered an underwear modelling deal by Calvin Klein. I mean I'm 4 stone overweight and a hairy bugger but why should that matter

Barry Hearn and 15,000 others who signed a petition think that this move is a bad thing. ITV and Sky think their viewers will see it as a good thing. 800,000 odd viewers didn’t sign the petition, so who knows who is right?

.......and of course we can’t have a discussion about it without people labelling anyone that disagrees with the ‘snowflakes’ ‘the pc brigade’ and ‘offended’. This is whilst ignoring the ‘snowflakes’ who were ‘offended’ by the decision in the first place.

 

[Hampster Gull]

That isn't the issue here. The point is some TV executive has decided to remove them on the basis someone somewhere might be offended by them given all the recent scandals.

This is despite no one really complaining about them and the women doing it enjoying it and making a lot of money from it, both from the events and other gigs as a result.

No, it’s been stopped because the commercial business that lays this on no longer think it adds to the sport. The world is progressing, but to be fair leaving a few laggards behind