TheOche.com

(Article sent in by Peter Gillatt. Online version at the Blackpool Gazette Website.)

Fans reacted angrily when the PlanetDarts.tv Subscription package allows new subscribers the ability to obtain tickets a week before they went on general sale. This meant there were no tickets left for many long time dart fans who queued overnight.

No final, Semi-final or and very few season tickets were held over and made available to the public yesterday when they went on General sale.

(Very special thanks to Peter Gillatt who sent in this story, along with a copy of the newspaper article, quoted here in bold. The article is by Joe Robinson (joe.robinson@blackpoolgazette.co.uk), and photos are by Bill Johnson)

The headline read “Darts fans’ despair” and if this story is accurate they have more than good reason for their feelings.

Darts fans queued from dawn for tickets to the World Matchplay Darts at the Winter Garden – to find only a handful were on sale. Many fans didn’t know tickets for he showpiece clashes – the semi-finals and final – had already sold out via the sport’s official website. Only a smattering of tickets were left for earlier rounds, sparking angry scenes outside the box office.

Rickard Eggleton, a 58-year-old plumber from Tennyson Avenue, Thornton, went armed with 1,260 to buy tickets for his local darts team. He said: “We’ve been coming here for the last five years. I’ve queued in the pouring rain for tickets here before but this year we can’t get any. I’m absolutely disgusted. They say you have to be a www.planetdarts.tv subscriber but some people don’t have digital TV and internet and things like that. If they liked darts that much they would come and queue up like me.”

Trevor Soppitt, a 49-year-old engineer from Whitehaven, was also left ticketless. He said: “It’s a great event and we love coming to Blackpool so I’m furious I haven’t got tickets. We came down here last night and queued up since seven. We’ve had a completely wasted trip and I think it’s a disgrace.”

His friend Mark Sewell, 42, also from Whitehaven, was hoping to see his favourite player, Colin ‘Jaws’ Lloyd. He said: “It’s a great shame. We love Blackpool, the night out, the atmosphere. It’s been very badly organised.”

The article went on to say that some fans, all of them subscribers, did get lucky and are now looking forward to the tournament in July. I’m sure anyone with tickets will of course be looking forward to attending…but it does look like there would be a more equatable way to divide the tickets amongst the fans of the sport.

The sport of darts has been lifted up by the fans that support it, and to turn a blind eye to such a large group of dart loving patrons seems to be an unwise strategic move, and it seems that each year the ticket controversy over ticket sales worsens.

Perhaps public outcry will force the organisers of this event and others to rethink the way that ticket sales are handled in the future.

Again, thank you Peter Gillatt for making us aware of this news story!