Darts: Venues, clubs and businesses thrive from Ally Pally showcase
The nights rolling in at 4pm and no longer being able to resist the temptation of turning on the heating can only mean one thing: the annual darts pilgrimage to Ally Pally is nearly upon us.
Because with Luke Littler absolutely romping the Grand Slam of Darts title in Wolverhampton on Sunday, all eyes are now on the World Championships in north London, where Littler burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old 12 months ago.
And the return of the annual competition is a shot in the arm to a number of London businesses too, including the host venue.
Iconic Ally Pally
“We love the darts,” Lucy Fenner, Alexandra Palace commercial director, tells City AM. “It’s become a festive tradition, and one of the great occasions on the sporting calendar.
“Someone said recently that what Wembley is to football, and Wimbledon is to tennis, Ally Pally is to darts – that sums up the status of the event and what it means to people.
“We are a good fit. We were built as the ‘People’s Palace’ and the darts totally lives up to that spirit, with the fans so crucial to the whole experience.
“As a charity, we face a massive financial challenge. Revenue from events like the darts – as well as the snooker and our live music programme – is crucial to our survival.”
And it is, as usual, proving popular. The official Professional Darts Corporation has just one ticket remaining on its fan-to-fan resale platform – in the family section – with every session’s original tickets sold out months in advance.
Darts fans want more
Viagogo has tickets starting from the opening day going for over £100. It’s the hottest ticket in town.
Hospitality, though, still has some capacity remaining – though it is expected to sell out.
“People at the moment, post budget and post election, do want value for money,” Pitchside Hospitality chief executive Neil Bailey tells City AM. “If they spend money we’ve got to deliver quality for them. They expect and deserve it.
“We’ve created 33 per cent more stock this year and we are expecting to sell that out as demand has soared.
“Last year we sold 80 per cent of our stock and this year we’ve already sold more places than that.
“Year on year we’re seeing a great, big increase in the number of people that want to go to the darts and the diversity of people that are interested in it.”
Pitchside Hospitality signed a five-year deal with the PDC for the World Championships, with packages ranging from food and general seating to Michelin star catered tables. PDC chief Matt Porter said: “We have seen interest levels in the hospitality offering almost double since [the Pitchside deal in 2023] and the quality of the experience has been significantly improved, building on what we were already doing.”
The local oche
But it’s not just the darts and Ally Pally that benefit from the World Championships being held in the capital. Gone are the days of walk-on girls but the sport’s association with betting continues through sponsor Paddy Power, despite growing concerns of increased legislation around betting sponsorship, and the boom in darts bars sees a footfall increase across the championships.
“We always see a great increase in bookings over the festive period,” darts bar chain Flight Club told City AM. “With groups joining us for Christmas parties, festive catch-ups and, naturally, a few fancy dress pre-PDC groups.
“We’re always thrilled to welcome the fans with our other guests, but we’re particularly proud to introduce Social Darts to thousands of guests every year who’ve never stepped up to the throw line before.”
So while British kids are counting down the sleeps until Santa arrives, there’s a number of other rotund blokes ready to entertain the rest of us this year at the oche. There’s 27 sleeps to go: let’s play darts!