Barry Hearn names ‘Next Darts’ while he reveals sport that will be huge in 5 years

Barry Hearn mentioned the next sport that he says will take off as a darts within five years.

The founder and president of the matchroom, 76, has been involved in promoting sport for more than 50 years.

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His company played an instrumental role in the roaring success of Snooker and Boxing.

But demonstrably the biggest impact of Hearn was due to his role as chairman of the professional Darts Corporation, where the prize money for the Victor in the world championship will double no less than £ 1 million for the 2026 tournament.

And Hearn hopes to see A similar progression for a different sport in the matchroom stable: swimming pool.

He said to Sunsport: “Life is about a series of small steps up, but we don’t want to go off the snake. We want to keep using the ladder.

‘It will be a long journey darts Was a long journey and we did fantastic work with it.

“I think we can do the same with nine ball pile.

“Matchrome has probably tried 16 different sports. We have stayed with sports for quite a long time before we say it is not working and we have never had that decision to take on pool, because it is a little bigger every year.

“The reason we have chosen a pool with nine balls is because it is a really worldwide game. It is played all over the world. It is not as big as Snooker in the UK, but it is enormous in Southeast Asia and North America.

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‘Last year’s Mosconi Cup Was the very first game of a million dollars in pole history, so we are getting somewhere.

“The progress we have made with the Mosconi Cup Tells me it will be a pretty long job, but we are not going anywhere.

“As long as we grow little by little every year, I think we can turn nine balls of swimming pool into a different arrows in the next five years.”

Hearn has been in sport long enough to know that money conversations.

And it will be the continuous increase in the money that the ultimate litmus test proves to determine the progress of Pool.

The ex-Lleyton Orient owner added: “Given the right moment and the right support for broadcasters and sponsors, which we are lucky to get, we can change the game and make something of it worldwide.

“Who would seriously imagine that a darts player received £ 1 million [for the worlds]? Only a handful of years ago it was £ 10,000, £ 20,000, £ 30,000.

“If you take arrows, we went from £ 400,000 prize money for the year to £ 25 million.

“For snooker£ 3.5 million When the game was about to fold, it was in a terrible state. That went beyond £ 20 million.

“We are for $ 5 million or $ 6 million (£ 3.8 £ 4.5 million) for Pool, so it is a huge amount to make.

“But we have the expertise to do it. It just doesn’t happen overnight.

“When you build a house, the foundations must be right. And if you put the right job on it, everyone is happy when you reach the roof.

“Players want prize money. That is the most important thing about every game.”

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Hearn can quickly be praised to Emily Fraser who leads the swimming pool department for matchroom, which sets more and more events.

One was open last week in Telford, where Aloysius Yapp raised the trophy and took the £ 30,000 winner check.

And while Hearn is used to promote the top stars of sport, this time he compiled them.

Hearn, Ex-Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson and Omroep Andy Goldstein was one of the 256 -players field -with the world’s top 128 pro players on the World Nineball tour that runs matchroom.

The veteran became the Oldest person who appears in a professional pool tournament in the UK.

He faced 2024 European Open Champion and Mosoni Cup -hero Mickey Krause in the first round -and was not surprisingly crushed with 9-0.

But a radiant Hearn has practiced a swimming pool every day since the US Open was open last August and still has huge ambitions to reach as a player.

I just slaughtered by the European champion. But hey. Bizarre enough I thought it was great.

Barry Hearn

He thought: “I spent 50 years of my life promoting sport, but I rarely come across that line to where my heroes play.

“This is an opportunity for me to really feel what it is like. It is a pretty great feeling, even if you miss balls or sit down for a longer period of time.

‘You rub shoulders with greatness.

“I watched one of the best swimming pool I have ever seen from Mickey Krause from my chair. He defeated me 9-0. I missed two shots in nine racks and never got a look at it.

“I just slaughtered by the European champion. But Hey-Ho.

‘Bizarre enough I thought it was great.

“I have the bug. Of course I will not suddenly improve a world -class player.

“One day I want to be the dominant factor, but at the moment my back will get a good kick.

“I have always been a very good loser. But I have never lost my enthusiasm for participating in something that is competitive.”

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