Barry Hearn insists Saudis are ‘very keen’ on darts as he hints at major law change and repeats World Championship claim

BARRY HEARN revealed Saudi Arabia is “very keen” on hosting the darts and suggested the country’s strict alcohol ban could be lifted.

The Saudis have been staging a series of major sporting events in recent years, such as blockbuster boxing fights, snooker competitions, football finals and WWE premium live events.

Hearn, 75, is confident darts will soon follow in that controversial trend but admits that will take some time.

The promoter insists the kingdom holds a very positive view about the sport but the alcohol ban won’t allow the same atmosphere as seen in the big stage, such as at Ally Pally.

However, the British businessman believes the Middle Eastern nation will soon be ready by continuing to ease up on their strict alcohol rules.

That will also allow more competitors to participate in the World Darts Championship.

Hearn told : “I have spoken to the Saudis and they were very keen. But of course there’s no alcohol in Saudi.

“There will be quite soon. And when it does, the first event they will want to stage in Saudi will be darts.

“It’s a great atmosphere at Ally Pally, but well, we’re looking at it.

“And we’re going to be very adventurous because we have tremendous demands all around the world for people that want to play in the World Darts Championship from different countries.

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“So we’ve got to start looking at making the World Championships bigger.

“If I went from 96 players to 128 for example, which I can easily do in a heartbeat, it brings in a lot more TV money from different countries.

“And from the fans’ point of view, it gives me an extra 25,000 seats. Still nowhere near enough. I could sell a quarter of a million seats for the world championship. I sell 90,000.

“Do I go into the big hall? I think there’s a lot of work, but that would give me 6,000 seats. And I’d still be at Ally Pally.

“Or do I go somewhere else? Everyone will say, ‘Are you gonna take it to Saudi?’ Well, no, don’t be silly. They’re not ready yet, But they won’t be far along.

“They won’t allow alcohol and the essence of darts is it’s party time, isn’t it? It’s fun as well as great sport.”

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