Darts stars urge pubs to step up to the oche

Pubs have been urged by a host of top darts stars to step up to the oche and capitalise on soaring interest in the sport.

James 'The Machine' Wade, Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle and Peter 'One Dart' Manley have issued a call for pubs to make more of dartboards by holding competitions or generating extra trade by entering teams into local leagues.

Darts is now the second most watched sport on Sky Sports behind football, and the professionals claim that this interest can be converted into profit.

"There's a lot of money for pubs to earn out of darts," said Wade. "I can't believe there are pubs out there that don't take part in leagues. Pubs can get their own teams together and host matches. It attracts an extra 20 punters on a Monday or Tuesday night."

Mardle added: "I can see why darts was in decline because people were relying on casual players. But league nights work. To really make money from darts, get a league going and promote it."

And Manley said: "Some people have taken out their dartboards and replaced them with restaurants. I think people are realising that you only go to the same restaurant so many times. Darts can be a continuous source of revenue if run properly."