How to get Darts Sponsorship as a Darts Player

By Kurt Bevan

Darts is a sport that can sometimes cost a lot of money to participate in, especially at the higher level of the amateur game. This means many players will be looking for sponsorship to offset some of the cost to travel and play in these tournaments.

So personally, I'm not a sponsored player, as such. I'm very lucky I have a platform and some skills in other areas that have allowed me to get paid or free equipment given to me that I can sell or use to help me get to events. I'm just a bog standard 60-65 average player so any chance of winning prize money or being well known for my playing ability is a way off. So how would I go about acquiring sponsorship?

Before we start, there are really three types of darts sponsorship: Equipment, monetary and management (I have detailed these at the bottom of the post to save time and space)

Provide Value

Most companies will always look, when sponsoring, for how much business can they get in return. (Return on investment)

By this, they need to get something back and many people think a shirt patch and a shoutout on social media is enough... let me tell you it isn't. If you're playing in a WDF event, on the challenge tour, or even the pro tour, it's unlikely that you'll regularly be seen by anyone except your fellow darts players.

Social media is slightly different as you may have a large following but just a bog standard post saying "Thank you to 'X Company' for sponsoring me' it doesn't provide anything.

If I was to pitch myself as a player to be sponsored for example for the WDF British Open here's how I would do it.

1) Explain my goals & past achievements

I'm by no means a great darts player, but I know the game well and I believe I have the potential to become a good amateur player, maybe not a tournament winner but someone who can get to a last 64/last 32 in some big tournaments in the future. This belief in myself will be intriguing to sponsors. Past achievements similarly will attract some sponsors.

2) What can I do for the sponsor?

For me personally, I would say that I can get eyes on their product. I can use my social media, website and YouTube channel to my advantage here and say who my main audience is, how many views I get and more. This helps them understand who will be seeing their business as part of my content.

On top of this I can say that I will post X amount of stories on instagram during the tournament, and film a vlog. Something which during the day doesn't need a lot of attention as it can all be done in reflection afterwards.

3) Maintain a relationship

You might not be sponsored straight away by companies but you might stay in touch, promote their things through social media voluntarily or just talk with the companies. All of this gets you noticed.

If I was regularly sharing a business on my social media especially a darts shop or equipment manufacturer for example and they noticed an upturn in sales or visits to their website as a result, they may want to make the partnership more official. This is a great way to acquire loyal sponsors that will be willing to help you out on a longer term.

This is just a few ideas that I would have personally into acquiring sponsorship. Obviously sponsorship can come and happen from anywhere so if you're looking for sponsorship, keep trying! If you're looking for support feel free to get in touch with me via twitter @MatadorDarts.

The 3 main types of Darts Sponsorship

Equipment sponsorship is usually where a manufacturer/brand will offer you free equipment and you may take a percentage if that equipment is sold (if it is your own darts barrel, flights etc.) however you wouldn't expect a lot of money or any money at all. What this will do however is stop you spending money on equipment so the £50 you spend on flights and stems for the year can be put towards some entry fees etc.

Monetary sponsorship is where a company or person will give you money in exchange for some promotion via a shirt patch or on social media. Generally this will be from people who know you personally or want to see you do well, as this type of sponsorship isn't usually profitable for the company offering sponsorship.

Management sponsorship, is probably the most valuable sponsorship a player can acquire. Generally this type of sponsorship, a management company or agent will pay for all or part of your travel, hotels and entry fees in exchange for a percentage of your prize money. Because of this, generally this type of sponsorship will only be realistic for high end players either within the PDC or the better players without a tour card or in the category (women, youth etc.) basically people who will consistently win good prize money.