You may have noticed if you’ve been keeping up with our blog that Connect PR is an agency that knows a thing or two about sports sponsorship.
This time our non-stop calendar of events meant several of the team ventured into the wonderful world of darts. We travelled the country visiting Glasgow, Manchester, Wolverhampton and London running the press office for the darts UK Open qualifiers for our client Speedy Services.
Although you may think that darts might not feature on many people’s radar, believe it or not it is actually the biggest indoor sport in the UK and the second most watched sport on Sky Sports after football.
Dubbed ‘The FA Cup of Darts’ Speedy Services is official sponsor of the UK Open and every year hundreds of amateur players take to the board in the hope of qualifying for the finals which may see them facing the likes of Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor or the ‘Mighty’ Michael Van Gerwen.
I helped out at Alexandra Palace in London organising the hopeful players, checking the strict darts dress code and watching tensely as one by one they threw 15 arrows. Each tried to get the highest score they could before the final 16 faced each other in three legs of 501 leaving only eight who will now feature in the finals at Bolton along with the 24 other qualifiers from around the country.
Of all the things I noticed that day, the passion and enthusiasm for their sport and the eagerness with which they wanted to progress was the most obvious, even behind the bravado.
In all honesty, I didn’t really get the darts hype before I attended the event but from spending the evening at the qualifiers I am very much a convert. The atmosphere was apprehensive but electric as each player stepped up to the oche hoping for the chance to get through.
I suppose this is a perfect example of why I love my job as it highlights first-hand the ‘public’ in public relations. When I return to the darts I will be helping run the finals in Bolton at the Reebok Stadium, and I will be rooting for any one of the 32 Speedy qualifiers to hit the bullseye and achieve the dream!
Rosie Farmer, Account Executive