To think fair enough that males darts champion wins 100k and female wins 12k

[DyslexicScientist]

Lots of people on my social media are going on about this. I don't have an issue with it, the prize money comes from advertising and less people are interested in women's darts.

Surely that just the free market at work?

[ClashCityRocker]

See, I don't see why, in sports like darts and snooker, women can't play in the same league/tournaments.

[ClashCityRocker]

But no, I don't think YABU. And I wonder how many people bitching support women's darts.

[bakeoffcake]

I wonder if the reason 'not many people are interested in women darts' is because it only recently been put on TV?

I watched the womens final yesterday and it was fantastic.

[DoreenLethal]

Perhaps less people are interested in women's darts because the prize isn't as high and thus the risks are not as risky?

It is darts - not penis wrestling so the prizes and rewards should be equal.

[ClashCityRocker]

Yes, I think that's probably part of it, bakeoff

There really aren't many popular women's sports, really. We got into the women's World Cup but there don't seem to be many games shown on TV for women's football, for example.

[thelouise]

Are you trying to goad?

[antimatter]

OT: could men and women compete in the same tournment if they chose to?

[ClashCityRocker]

Are women's and mens darts organized by the same people? I know there's two different lots of darts, kind of like rugby league and rugby union.

[DyslexicScientist]

I wonder if the reason 'not many people are interested in women darts' is because it only recently been put on TV?

Same thing really, surely it would of been put on TV years ago if people wanted to watch it?

As more people watch it I'm sure the prizes will increase naturally.

Also agree with pp that many of people bitching about it don't support women's darts.

[DyslexicScientist]

Yes they are organised by the same people.

Mixed darts would be a good idea. Is there any genetic reason why not? I know strength isn't an issue, but maybe some spacial awareness like skills might of developed differently.

[ClashCityRocker]

Ah apparently it is not banned for women to take part but they have to be specially invited, I think....

Some of the best darts players I know are women.

[Maudofallhopefulness]

Why is it that men attract the sponsorship and publicity? I can't see any difference in the standard of darts played. You don't have to be strong or tall or athletic. Then again I've only watched a bit of it. They're all ugly bastards male and female so it isn't sex appeal that makes popularity.

Do the men attract more attention simply because of a misogynistic culture of promoting the men's game over the women? Therefore they become the stars and get the advertising. If so, not fair.

[lacktoastandtolerance]

Women are allowed to try and qualify for snooker tour, but nobody has managed it yet. Reanne Evans was even given a place on the main tour without having to qualify.

She won 61 consecutive matches in the women's game, but failed to win a single match on the 'main' tour. That's how big the gap is at the moment.

The problem is that, generally, women at the moment are of a lower standard than the men, in both darts and snooker.

This has nothing to do with any sort of ridiculous notion that women cannot play such sports, but, in my opinion, because they simply aren't offered the chances and encouragement when they are younger that men are.

More men are encouraged to give darts, snooker etc. a go when they are children; if they express an interest they are more likely to be encouraged rather than put down: therefore they get more practice time, more confidence etc.

Hopefully the increased coverage of the women's games will inspire more to take them up. I suspect it will take a few years, but in five or perhaps ten years time I'd expect to see women competing with men at a good level in both darts and snooker.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reanne_Evans

"After winning 61 consecutive women's matches and defeating reigning world champion John Higgins 4–3 at the 2009 Six-red World Championship,[8] Evans was awarded a wild card on the professional main tour for the 2010–11 season, enabling her to enter all ranking events at the qualifying stage. This made her the first woman to play on the main snooker tour since Allison Fisher in 1994–95.[9][10][11] Evans failed to win a match throughout her season on the tour, suffering 18 consecutive defeats.[12] She entered Q-School, but was unable to qualify for the main tour in the 2011–12 season.

"In the 2012–13 season, Evans won enough Q-School matches to earn a "top-up" place in the qualifying rounds for the 2013 Wuxi Classic, competing as an amateur.[13][14] In her qualifying match, she defeated Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5–4 to become the first woman to reach the final stages of a professional ranking snooker tournament.[15] Originally scheduled to play world number 2 Neil Robertson in the last 64, she then became one of four players selected to play an extra wildcard round against local Chinese opponents, a system she publicly criticized.[16] She traveled to Wuxi and played Chinese teenager Zhu Yinghui in the wildcard round, but lost 2–5.[7]

"In March 2015, Evans has been awarded a place in the qualifying rounds of 2015 World Snooker Championship.[17] She lost her opening match 8–10 to 1997 world champion Ken Doherty.[18]"

[blackheartsgirl]

Dp doesn't think it's fair and thinks it should be more equal. He plays darts at county level and has met several of the well known women players.

He has a lot of respect for women players, they can beat men in a one to one game, darts is down to skill not physical ability which is why he thinks that they should be able to compete in the same major competitions as men

Pub leagues, superleague and county levels have mixed teams so why not big comps?

[bakeoffcake]

'Surely it would of been put on TV years ago if people wanted to watch it'

ha ha ha ha!
Of course it's well known that women's sport gets a fair share of TV in the UK.

[stardusty5]

Women get more coverage in athletics and tennis than in other sports such as football etc. As a result , we know more household names such as Jess Ennis Hill, Paula Radcliffe, Serena Williams etc.

The more we know about a sport and the 'story' behind the players or teams, the more interesting they become. Men's football really is less about the skill on the pitch than triumph over old rivals, which managers are doing well/ badly, goal droughts and table position.

I think the media are the ones who have the responsibility to get the stories out there.

[ClashCityRocker]

Thanks for the info lack

And yes, I can see that point - take pool for example. Dh and all his male friends started playing pool from the age of eight or so - they'd get taken to the pub Sunday dinner time with dad and play, male bonding etc. I don't think I'd picked up a pool cue til I was eighteen.

[SelfLoathing]

surely it would of been put on TV years ago if people wanted to watch it?


This is a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy though.

People are interested in a sport because they are engaged with it. The most common form of engagement is interest as a youth/child. Seeing David Beckham making you want to take up football and so forth.

If it is never on TV, there are no grass roots opportunities for mass audiences of young women to watch darts and think "I'd like to do that". Hence fewer participants. Lower standard. Less interest. Less demand for it to be on tV.

Think about how American Football has grown in this county and that started from it first being shown on Ch. 4 in the late 80s/early 90s. Now there are well established American football teams.

Women's football and women's sports generally have similar issues. Tennis is one of the few sports that routinely gets as good coverage as has done for years. Probably no coincidence it was one of the first, if not the first, to offer equal prize money.

[MrsJayy]

Throwing a dart is throwing a dart I dont understand why the prize money is less

[MrsJayy]

The darts championships have been on tv for years even with female players it was just on late at night on bbc2