Darts fans have their say! The big darts survey from bet365 and Better Collective

In collaboration with Better Collective, bet365 surveyed over 2,000 darts fans ahead of the World Darts Championship, focusing on their playing prowess, their favourite players, and preferred walk on music.

The most anticipated darts event of the year is officially well underway!

Alexandra Palace opened its doors on 15th December to what promises to be yet another great showing at the legendary venue. 

James Wade became the first seed to bow out of the competition on Tuesday, and it's a result that has undoubtedly come as a blow to not only 'The Machine', but also the large number of dart enthusiasts who rated his walk-out song as the best in the business!

According to the results, the most popular walk-on songs are:

'The Boys Are Back In Town' by Thin Lizzy (James Wade's walk-on song)
'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice (Gerwyn Price's walk-on song)
'Jump Around' by House of Pain (Gary Anderson's walk-on song)

9% of UK darts fans chose each of these songs, respectively.

Here’s the top 10: 

In partnership with bettingexpert, we have surveyed more than 2,000 UK darts fans to grasp the darts landscape and how highly the fans rate the event at the “Ally Pally”. 

We asked the fans what they would give up for a chance to compete at an event of the World Darts Championships magnitude, how big of a head start they would need for a chance to beat Michael van Gerwen, which player has the best walk-on music in the PDC, and lastly, what their own highest three dart score has been. 

With a stirring walk on behind them,  we went on to ask how confident our voters would be going up against mighty Michael van Gerwen...
 

Headstart against Michael van Gerwen

Dutchman Michael van Gerwen is undoubtedly one of the best players to grace the game of darts, having been victorious at the PDC World Championships three times. We asked UK darts fans to imagine going up against MVG, a tough task regardless. We asked them about the headstart they would need for a chance to beat him. Surprisingly, 14% of fans didn’t believe the Dutchman needed a headstart and claimed they would have a chance at beating him if both started at 501!

Here’s a breakdown of what scores the fans felt they would need to start on:

This level of confidence is surprising given the best three dart scores our participants claimed to have hit!
 

Three dart high scores

We asked the UK darts fans to reveal their highest score with three darts. We wanted to see just how prolific the fans are when it comes to playing themselves, and with us having no way to validate the responses, we have to take their word for it. The replies show that a notable 31% of UK darts fans claim that they achieved the maximum score of 180 in a single turn.

We’ve already established that fans around the country would back themselves against Michael van Gerwen in varying levels of confidence, but who would they most like to play up on the Ally Pally stage? According to the results, the main man is still Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, alongside Eric Bristow. 

The survey reveals these 10 players, past or present, are the ones that most fans would prefer playing against:

Sacrifice

The survey reveals that almost one in five UK darts fans (17%) would give up supporting their favourite football club for a spot at the World Darts Championship. The data further shows that it’s especially the darts fans from London who aren’t that loyal to their favourite football team. One in four Londoners (25%), would give up supporting their favourite team.

Similarly to giving up their support to their favourite football team, 17% of UK darts fans would choose to live in isolation for a full month for a chance to compete at the World Darts Championship.

10% of the fans said they would stop watching sports altogether, if they could play at the Ally Pally, and another 10% would give up their smartphone for a chance to play at the legendary venue.

Despite being the most sought-after darts event on the calendar, when asked what the fans would be prepared to give up for a starting spot at the Alexandra Palace, or a similar prestigious darts tournament, a staggering 44% of UK fans said they would not be prepared to give up anything to participate. The fans may be more interested in being in the crowd, shouting 180 and waving the signs around, dressing up, and contributing to the legendary atmosphere at Ally Pally.