Darts star Michael Smith has told Barry Hearn that the World Championships can "never move" away from Alexandra Palace after the former chairperson of the Professional Darts Corporation hinted that it could be moved to Saudi Arabia.
The spotlight on darts has been brighter ever since teenager Luke Littler burst onto the scene, with the demand for tickets and sponsorship interest at an all-time high. Hearn, who also oversees snooker with Matchroom, has already negotiated the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, which will take place this summer.
Hearn's son, Eddie, has played a major part in securing the biggest boxing fights in the Middle East, and it's been speculated that the Snooker World Championships could move to Riyadh. Similarly to darts, the Snooker World Championships are hosted at an iconic venue - the Crucible Theatre - and Ally Pally has been the home of darts since 2008.
Smith isn't against playing in Saudi Arabia, but is adamant that the World Championships cannot leave Ally Pally, even if Hearn's claims of a 500 percent increase in prize money are legitimate. "Ally Pally, we should move rooms, not move venues. There's a bigger room in there that holds six or seven thousand," Smith exclusively told Mirror Sport.
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"It definitely shouldn't be moved, never ever move the venue. It's an iconic thing. You're not going to move the Matchplay, because it's Winter Gardens. It's iconic. The Premier League is iconic to the 02, and the World Champs is Ally Pally. No one ever calls it the World Champs, they say 'I'm going to watch at Ally Pally'.
"That's what everyone recognises it as, should never move." Talks over a move are accelerating as the current room that holds the World Championships holds 3,200, and tickets sell out within hours, usually before they even hit general sale.
As a businessman, Hearn wants to bring more fans to the event and sees an opportunity over in Saudi. Hearn explained his proposal ahead of the U.S. Darts Masters, which saw Rob Cross win at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Barry Hearn is keen on bringing darts over to Saudi Arabia after launching his snooker empire. (Getty Images)"Go to Riyadh, we’ll come back to Ally Pally for something else," Hearn said on TalkSport before continuing: "I’m being facetious. What I’m saying is, ‘live in the real world ’. My employers are the sportsmen and women we promote. I have the top players in snooker saying, ‘We don’t want to leave the Crucible because of the history’.
"But if I made the prize five times what it is now, everyone would go." The money may be tempting, but Smith's refusal to entertain a venue change has been shared by Littler, the one who has helped bring more eyes to darts.
Littler is only 17 and it's important for him to spend Christmas Day at home, and with the World Championships falling over the festive period in the UK, that would be a major issue. "I think it's crazy that we could ever go to Saudi for the World Championships, but even if we do move, like Mike said, just move into the bigger room at Ally Pally," Littler exclusively told Mirror Sport.
"Imagine Saudi to Manchester for Christmas and then flying back over, I couldn't do it."
Luke Littler doesn't want to move away from Ally Pally eitherIt seems inevitable that darts will award Saudi Arabia with a World Series event, which Smith would welcome as long as it doesn't take ownership of the World Championships.
"Every other sport is there so why not darts? One of the best sports, the biggest party. That is the problem in Saudi, the party side of it," Smith added. "It's going to be difficult but if I'm part of it when it's there I'd love to go.
"I like to go to Dubai, I like to take my wife and kids on holiday. Straight from there we go to Bahrain, the kids love it. So why not in Saudi?"
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