Chatting Bull with Dan Dawson - Issue #026

Influencers. Tik-Tokkers. Online personalities. You’re familiar with the shtick - it is everywhere. Most of it is harmless fluff, but as darts have become a bigger and bigger business, it was bound to attract more people who could smell the potential for clicks, exposure, and, ultimately, a few quid in their pocket.

Gary Anderson has had a bit to say on the matter, of late. The two-time World Champion is a genuine icon of the sport, but the online commodification of darts baffles him, and he cannot understand why anyone would want to consume such content. Fair enough - he’s a 56-year-old man; that isn’t his world.  But I also do not think he appreciates how the generation of content around the sport ultimately serves as free marketing for darts, for Gary, and indeed for the “Flying Scotsman” products which people will ultimately spend their money on. If a young person buys a set of Anderson darts, does it matter if they got into the sport from playing youth darts in the local pub, or by watching clips on YouTube or TikTok?

You can see why darts are attractive to online influencers. It is getting bigger and more lucrative, but it is still small enough a scene where they can make an impact. You are far more likely to get associations with players and brands in darts than you are in football, where your content is unlikely to even enter within the orbit of the elite players (granted, the simple existence of “The Baller League” does count against my own argument here). I am no expert - I cannot tell you very much about “Big John” (eats large meals in Chinese restaurants) or “Angry Ginge” (eats crocodile anus in the jungle), but I do know they have befriended world number one Luke Littler.  So if “The Nuke” is now an “elite bosh-soldier”, who am I to argue?

I also fear I may have actually been one of the first Darts influencers myself.  Obsessively on Twitter, posting almost exclusively darts content, be it poorly altered images on Microsoft Paint, stupid darts-related songs I had created, Steve Beaton innuendo, or more serious darts content and interviews.

Admittedly, I never made any effort to monetise it, and I was also working as a reporter on the radio and a commentator for streamed events at the time, so it was not my only connection to the sport - I wasn’t just an online darts persona.

While I sometimes find it galling to see influencers with little to no understanding or background in darts being given access and opportunities in the sport, where is the harm, really? If they want to do a silly little sketch, or a product review, or some content around the game, why not just let them go for it? It might be a gateway for new fans of the sport. I have a much bigger problem with people who use their online personas to make social and professional capital from serious issues like mental health, whilst behaving abysmally in the real world, which seems a far more grievous offence.

So remember guys, before I go, do hit like and subscribe - and use the code OLDMANSHOUTSATCLOUD for 0% off your next purchase!

Issue #026 Quiz Answers

1) 2003
2) Butlin’s Resort in Minehead, England
3) Around 160 players

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