As we know, the PDC World Matchplay kicks off on Saturday evening. However, had England somehow managed to beat Argentina in midweek and reach the FIFA World Cup Final, the action in Blackpool would have started at lunchtime instead.
As it turned out, that particular problem solved itself.
Thomas Tuchel appeared to decide that the best way to avoid pressure from the reigning world champions was to field roughly ten defenders and hope Argentina became distracted by a whatever bird decided to fly past. Sadly, they didn’t. England lost. Football once again demonstrated its unique ability to make 60 million people miserable simultaneously.
Still, the fallout was fascinating.
When news emerged that the Matchplay schedule could potentially be altered, it’s fair to say some darts fans reacted as though the PDC had announced the Winter Gardens was being converted into a shelter for homeless former traffic wardens halfway through the tournament.
Not everyone, of course. Mainly those whose travel plans would have been ruined and those who couldn’t care less about football if Lionel Messi personally delivered it to their front door gift-wrapped in gold paper.
And that’s understandable.
After all, you’ve spent months saving your hard-earned money for the annual pilgrimage to Blackpool. Hotels booked. Trains sorted. Beer budget carefully calculated by a team of financial analysts. Then suddenly your plans are potentially being disrupted by a sport you don’t follow and a national team you’d quite happily watch get thumped 7-0 by a village under-12s side.
Particularly when Blackpool during Matchplay week contains approximately seventeen Scots for every one Englishman. Now, before anyone starts writing angry emails, I’m joking. Mostly.
The chances of anything interfering with a Scotsman’s journey to the World Matchplay are roughly the same as the chances of him voluntarily buying the first round in a six-hour drinking session. Again, jokes. Please don’t invade my mentions.
But I do understand the frustration.
If you’re a darts lover, the World Matchplay isn’t just another tournament. It’s Christmas Day, your birthday, and finding a tenner in an old pair of jeans all rolled into one. The idea that it could be shuffled around because England were kicking a football about in America understandably didn’t go down particularly well.
That said, I suspect this wasn’t really a PDC decision. This had Sky Sports fingerprints all over it.
The Winter Gardens would still have sold out. It always does. Not because it’s smaller than a bird’s nest, but because enough darts fans genuinely couldn’t give a monkey’s backside how England are getting on three thousand miles away.
The real issue was television figures.
Football is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of English sport. Darts has grown enormously, but it’s still David facing Goliath. A very talented David armed with tungsten, admittedly, but David nonetheless.
If England had reached the final, viewing figures for the Matchplay would almost certainly have dropped. Lower viewing figures mean fewer eyeballs. Fewer eyeballs mean less advertising value. Less advertising value means less money.
And money is what keeps pushing the PDC prize fund upwards every year.
Nobody is adding another hundred grand to the World Championship because they’re passionate about double sixteen. They’re doing it because somebody, somewhere, is making an absolute fortune.
So from a commercial standpoint, having a contingency plan makes perfect sense. Even if it annoys the sort of hardcore darts fans who know the average checkout percentage of a Players Championship quarter-finalist from 2018.
The panic is over now anyway.
When Argentina scored the winner, I imagine there was a collective sigh of relief throughout PDC headquarters so powerful it briefly altered weather patterns across Lancashire.
Tournament organisers probably celebrated like fellow competitors do when they’d just seen Luke Littler miss a flight. Crisis averted.
Looking back, perhaps the smarter move would have been for the PDC to announce the contingency from day one. Perhaps something along the lines of:
“Here’s the schedule. If England reach the World Cup Final, here’s the alternative schedule. Don’t panic. Don’t shout at us. Blame Harry Kane.”
At least then everyone would have known where they stood. Instead, the uncertainty created more drama than an EastEnders Christmas Special.
Still, lesson learned.
Although there would be little point creating a similar contingency plan for Scotland.
I have more chance of lifting the Phil Taylor trophy myself, carrying it up Mount Everest and wrestling a grizzly bear at the summit than Scotland have of winning a World Cup.
And before the Scots get upset, don’t worry. By the time that ever happens, little green men from Mars will be ruling the planet.
