I first appeared on the digital SPY forum back in July.....as regards BARB figures, these are in the public domain.....

i think barry hearn will be in front of the Que with darts asking for more money before the RFL even react.

A quick comparison of the respective ratings for SL and the Darts would point to him having a case

novelty it may be, but it still drew a pretty decent level of eyeballs to SKY.....240K for the final as opposed to 271k for the SL Grand Final.

I think after a few years of the same scenario the neutrals wont bother watching darts. I like darts but it gets boring to watch unless i have nothing else to do.

But i would say sky don't capitalize on rugby league as much as they should not sure what much else darts could do but then again i am not promoter.

RL needs to cultivate other broadcasters than Sky. Despite frustrations over some coverage/commentry teams etc, Sky has been a very valuable allay to SL, however the Sky Broadcast platform has limited lifespan, it may take 10 years but satelite broadcasting will be superceded by internet, which may very well mean the end for Sky's all inclusive packages.

That is all guesswork but as a sport RL must be in a position to respond to the broadcast changes that are coming in the next 5-10 years

Darts fills up a lot of time over the year and has a loyal audience. It's been on Sky since day one, that's no novelty.

Oh to have a Barry Hearn type negotiator at Red Hall

a real pity.

I'd agree the sport needs a Barry Hearn to an extent, but this is a sport that hates change, and Hearn from, as you mention both darts and snooker, needed some slight, some major changes, to be in the position it is in. I think the parochial nature of our sport wouldn't allow a Hearn to succeed, sadly.

Hearn not only wants change, he wants power.

Total and absolute control over the sport as an entireity and who does what, where and when.

Easy enough to do when you're dealing with an individual sport like darts or snooker (albeit there has been dissent within both games) but absolutely impossible when you're dealing with a sport like football or one of the rugby codes where the clubs are businesses.

Nothing novelty about darts. It gets good ratings, has a huge fan base and with a man such as Barry Hearn at the helm, it's thriving.

Needless to day, I can't stand Hearn. As Andy G says, it's not about the money with him, it's the power. He wants 100% control. Plus he always has his favourites in each sport he runs; Taylor in darts, O'Sullivan in snooker.

Main sports item on BBC and ITV, not a word on sky