Michael Smith

[RigbyLuger]

Great to see all the publicity for Saints and RL that the World Darts Champion is getting us right now!

[Madrileño]

Pro Darts is effectively owned by Matchroom and as your post alludes to, Darts dwarfs League in the UK in terms of profile, media, visibility etc. To the extent that we are happy that 1 of their players even mentions League.

Match room also wanted to be involved in League recently I believe, but the governing body failed to reach an agreement with them? 

Oh well.... hopefully 1 of their players will keep mentioning us in passing. #crumbsfromthetable 

[RigbyLuger]

Crumbs from the table, but how many times do we miss opportunities that fall in our laps? Saints certainly haven't done that.

[graveyard johnny]

Peter Wright has a Leeds Rhinos shirt in his practice room hanging in pride of place, always wondered if Dave Chisnall was any relation to a saints/leigh players from the past?

[Jughead]

Smith’s a big Saints fan and goes as regularly as his calendar allows. I’m sure 4 or Sky have done pieces on Smith/Saints before. 

 

[graveyard johnny]

22 minutes ago, Jughead said:

Smith’s a big Saints fan and goes as regularly as his calendar allows. I’m sure 4 or Sky have done pieces on Smith/Saints before. 

 

is he a poster on these forums?

[dixiedean]

33 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said:

is he a poster on these forums?

He usually hits the bullseye when he comments.

[Gomersall]

1 hour ago, Jughead said:

Smith’s a big Saints fan and goes as regularly as his calendar allows. I’m sure 4 or Sky have done pieces on Smith/Saints before. 

 

C4 should try and get an interview with him at the next Sts home game they televise.

[Agbrigg]

Saints also have Johnny Vegas who promotes them from time to time. Who needs the likes of Russel Crowe when you have such A list celebs.

[gingerjon]

3 hours ago, Madrileño said:

Darts dwarfs League in the UK in terms of profile, media, visibility etc.

2023 is very young and yet there may not be a more embarrassingly incorrect post all year.

[Cumbrian Fanatic]

2 hours ago, Jughead said:

Smith’s a big Saints fan and goes as regularly as his calendar allows. I’m sure 4 or Sky have done pieces on Smith/Saints before. 

 

He turned up at the Whitehaven V Saints Challenge Cup tie last season

[Tim Streets tache]

Decent prop

[Madrileño]

1 hour ago, gingerjon said:

2023 is very young and yet there may not be a more embarrassingly incorrect post all year.

I think a lot more people in the UK could name darts players than could name League players. Certainly in Scotland where I was for New Year. Nobody knew the first thing about League. They certainly couldn't tell you the name of anyone who plays it. The Darts was on TV every night. It was getting coverage on the radio as well, on the wall-to-wall football programmes they have on the radio all afternoon over the festive period. 

There's nothing "embarassing" about it, it's the truth!

[Taurus]

When he got the nine darter in the final the commentator Wayne Mardle said "I can't spake"

[GUBRATS]

When I saw the thread title I thought , RL player , CAS wasn't it , Kiwi 

Yes I knew the bloke who won the darts was from St Helens but didn't know his name 

Who I their right mind watches fat blokes throwing little spears into the same little box over and over and over and over again for hours on end ? Bonkers 

[RigbyLuger]

17 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

Who I their right mind watches fat blokes throwing little spears into the same little box over and over and over and over again for hours on end ? Bonkers 

Plenty, it appears. Why is a question we could do with knowing the answer to.

[GUBRATS]

7 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

Plenty, it appears. Why is a question we could do with knowing the answer to.

So you want virtually everybody at the games wearing umpa lumpa costumes drinking beer and not even watching the action on the pitch , but just singing random football chants ? 

[daz39]

5 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

So you want virtually everybody at the games wearing umpa lumpa costumes drinking beer and not even watching the action on the pitch , but just singing random football chants ? 

Ironically that is the exact reasons why i stopped watching darts, i was quite an avid follower of it and indeed played a bit before it turned into a televised P*** up, but that is what attracts people to the darts, i won't call them fans of the sport as most of them have probably never seen a darts match.

[RigbyLuger]

10 minutes ago, GUBRATS said:

So you want virtually everybody at the games wearing umpa lumpa costumes drinking beer and not even watching the action on the pitch , but just singing random football chants ? 

They've paid for tickets to do that. We tend to look for any excuse to get a discount.

[GUBRATS]

2 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

They've paid for tickets to do that. We tend to look for any excuse to get a discount.

Nowt stranger than folk 

[gingerjon]

7 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

Plenty, it appears. Why is a question we could do with knowing the answer to.

Why?

They're paying less to watch a World Championship than the SL Grand Final and there's half as many as turn up to that - other events are even smaller with far, far, far less TV and media coverage - than an average round of Super League fixtures.

[Mumby Magic]

He was at the Bulls Widnes game last season. I asked for a picture, phone played up and I let him go as his youngest needed the loo.

[HawkMan]

2 hours ago, gingerjon said:

Why?

They're paying less to watch a World Championship than the SL Grand Final and there's half as many as turn up to that - other events are even smaller with far, far, far less TV and media coverage - than an average round of Super League fixtures.

That's being disingenuous at best, the point previously spouted was that Darts has a higher profile than RL which it certainly does. I expect high numbers of pubs across the land had it on nationwide. Like Boxing an " event " sport has few big mass gathering occasions so the aggregate attendance throughout the year is smaller, possibly tv audience figures too, but recognition of players, knowledge of the game, who the big stars are, darts is bigger. RL's problem is that even if 99% of the population of the Heartlands ate, drank and slept RL  it would mean very little elsewhere in the country. For RL to grow that must change!

Edited January 6, 2023 by HawkMan

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

That's being disingenuous at best, the point previously spouted was that Darts has a higher profile than RL which it certainly does. I expect high numbers of pubs across the land had it on nationwide. Like Boxing an " event " sport has few big mass gathering occasions so the aggregate attendance throughout the year is smaller, possibly tv audience figures too, but recognition of players, knowledge of the game, who the big stars are, darts is bigger. RL's problem is that even if 99% of the population of the Heartlands ate, drank and slept RL  it would mean very little elsewhere in the country. For RL to grow that must change!

Darts has a lower profile than rugby league across the country. It brings in less money, is watched by fewer people and has substantially less media coverage.

[HawkMan]

40 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Darts has a lower profile than rugby league across the country. It brings in less money, is watched by fewer people and has substantially less media coverage.

You're usually so level headed and on the ball, but that's a bonkers thing to say.

Are you seriously saying that across the country more people would recognise RL players than darts players. I'm not saying either figure would be particularly high, but darts is bigger. True RL has more aggregated attendance figures and probably has more TV viewers over the year, but that's the nature of event sports like darts.

I would say, pure guess,that 50% of pubs were showing the darts final, but how many nationwide show the SL Grand Final?

There's probably more people throughout the year attend RL than Wimbledon fortnight,  does that mean RL is bigger than Tennis?

According to your method, more watch RL throughout the year than Wimbledon,  more media coverage throughout the year than Wimbledon, so yeah,RL bigger profile than Wimbledon fortnight,  who'd thought that!

Edited January 6, 2023 by HawkMan