Dart's biggest party is back in 2023 as the Premier League roadshow heads to a venue near you! The SSE Arena in Belfast hosts the first of 17 individual venues from Thursday February 2 with the Play-Offs returning to The O2 in London on Thursday May 25
Saturday 7 January 2023 09:33, UK
The World Darts Championship crowds proved a major talking point once again at Alexandra Palace this year, but PDC chief executive Matt Porter has celebrated positive atmospheres upon the return of fans from overseas.
Fan etiquette moved back into the spotlight when Gerwyn Price emerged wearing ear defenders for the fifth set of his defeat to Gabriel Clemens, during which he preceded to cup his ears to spectators after firing a maximum to begin the leg.
Ricky Evans and Ryan Meikle were meanwhile booed in spells during their first-round matches against Fallon Sherrock and Lisa Ashton, respectively,
"I think the atmosphere was a lot more positive this year rather than last year when it was a very, very pro-English crowd and there were quite a lot of political undertones because of the situation we were going through with COVID etc," Porter told the Love The Darts podcast.
"This year we had 10,000 Germans and Austrians, 5,000 Dutch, 5,000 travelling from the rest of the world so there was a real multi-cultural cosmopolitan mix amongst the crowd and that really helped the atmosphere.
"You could see on the pictures all the different flags of countries and I think that's great."
Welshman Price has become no stranger to crowd hostility over the years though has often embraced the division on his route to World No 1 stardom. In the wake of his defeat to Clemens, however, he took to social media to suggest he may not compete at the World Championship again.
"It's an easy target to pick up on the boos and things like that, but I think you have to put it into context," Porter added. "It doesn't happen to every single player, it doesn't happen to any player all the time.
"But certain things can happen that can trigger the crowd and players have to understand that.
"They're up there playing for a lot of money, it's a high-pressured environment, people have to be able to deal with the pressure of competing in such circumstances.
"There have been occasions where it's boiled over, but for the majority of the time, it's been at a level the players are used to and capable of dealing with."
The new Premier League Darts season will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Thursday February 2, the first of 17 individual venues to host the 2023 Premier League, which will be staged on Thursday nights from February to May - live on Sky Sports!
