It’s been an exceptionally tough year for pubs and, as they’re the spiritual home of darts, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and manufacturers Unicorn have teamed up to donate 50 dartboards to locals across the UK to celebrate the reopening of indoor licensed venues.
Pubs across England, Wales and Scotland will resume indoor service on Monday, May 17, and to encourage people back to the pub, and to try their hand at darts, the pair are calling on pub goers and landlords to get in touch if their darts-playing local needs a new board.
The PDC, which is currently hosting the Unibet Premier League Darts in Milton Keynes, has teamed up along with their official dartboard provider, Unicorn, to donate 50 brand-new Eclipse boards - as used in PDC tournaments.
As well as inviting the public to nominate their local pub to receive a dartboard through social media, PDC players and darts-enthusiast celebrities will be invited to gift a board to their own favourite pub. Fans can get involved on social media by using the hashtag #SupportYourLocal and via pdc.tv/SupportYourLocal.
Matt Porter, PDC Chief Executive, said, “It’s been an incredibly challenging year for lots of industries, not just for pubs, but the connection between the local and our sport is something we wanted to celebrate and support.
“Many players learned their trade in pub teams and the local remains a key part of the sport at grassroots level. By sending new boards to venues up and down the country, we hope that darts players and pub goers can enjoy the safe return to pubs with a dart in their hand.”
Edward Lowy, Unicorn Products Ltd Managing Director, added, "It's been a long wait and the last year has been so tough on the hospitality industry. Unicorn are delighted to partner with the PDC to shout out to darts players around the land that it's time to get back on the oche.
"This is a great move for league and grass-roots darts; for the pub trade and for darts - Game On!"
Darts fans can nominate their local pub to receive a new Unicorn dartboard through the form at https://pdc.tell-us-what-you-think.com/s3/PDC-Reopening-Pubs-Bars.
Opening image credit - Lawrence Lustig/PDC