ESPN searches for the next World Series of Poker..

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

If you had predicted 21/2 years ago that the next great American sports television phenomenon was going to be poker, lots of people would have laughed, pointed and called you names.

 

Of course, that was before the summer of 2003 and the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour and ESPN's World Series of Poker. The combination turned Texas Hold 'Em into a national craze. Televised poker suddenly popped up on Bravo, Fox Sports and even NBC. Viewers, especially young, male, beer-drinking, truck-buying viewers, went, as they say at the tables, all in. And the ratings have shown no signs of diminishing.

 

Which leads to the inevitable question: If this is how millions of Americans, some of them not even drunk, want to spend their TV-sport-watching hours, what else might appeal to them? Bowling? Fishing? Professional full-contact shuffleboard?

 

Michael Davies, the executive producer who has made a fortune bringing British television properties such as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Wife Swap to America, thinks he may have the answer:

 

Darts.

 

"The last thing I'm going to do is run around town trying to tell anybody that darts is going to be the next poker," Davies said in a recent telephone interview, "but darts have a lot to recommend it to American television. It fits into that intersection of American popular culture and sports and regular life, which poker has readily occupied. So there are some similarities."

 

Enough, apparently, that ESPN has signed a deal with Davies to broadcast a made-for-television darts championship next year as a World Series of Darts. There are to be eight hour-long episodes, and the series is tentatively scheduled to begin in July. The invitational tournament will include the 16 top-ranked players in the world, most of whom live in Britain, and 32 Americans, who will be chosen through a series of regional qualifying tournaments. The top prize will be $100,000, "unless an American wins it," Davies said. "And then we'll add a zero. If an American wins, the prize will be $1 million."

 

Davies said that the events would be held next spring at a casino on the East Coast of the United States and broadcast next summer on ESPN with a format very much like that of the World Series of Poker.

 

Credit: NY Times

 

Im waiting for the episode where one of the darts hits the board, glances off and gets stuck in someone's eye.

 

RATINGS!

[MrRant 0]

If there is bodily harm, then I'm down.

 

If not, let's just popularize bowling. Again.

[Slayer 0]

I'm holding out for the World Series of D&D

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

If there is bodily harm, then I'm down.

 

If not, let's just popularize bowling.  Again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ever see the bwling skills challenges? Where they'll throw like 3 balls at once, or sidepsin it through 2 or 3 chairs? Pretty sweeeeet.

 

Darts? I'd never go for it. And I watch golf and curling regularly.

[Gert T 0]

Will WSOP ratings dip since they stretched the tournament coverage out to BASEketball style duration?

 

Seriously didn't WSOP only go 6 weeks last year?

[Guest The Spike]

I'll be waiting for ESPN to do a made-for-tv movie on this subject.

 

Can you imagine the promos?

[Dogbert 0]

Catch the 2006 World Series of Farting, only on ESPN!

 

ESPN: It's a sport because we said so.

[Fartsauce 0]

Vader has won the world series!

[Guest clockworkraven]

Fox Sports (Australian) used to show British dart competitions.

 

Not worth it.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Fox Sports in the States shows British dart competitions, too.

 

I'd rather watch dart competitions from the UK than either basketball or baseball.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

If it involves throwing them at Norm Chad, I'm all about it...

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Curling, baby!

[CanadianChris 0]

Will WSOP ratings dip since they stretched the tournament coverage out to BASEketball style duration?

 

Seriously didn't WSOP only go 6 weeks last year?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was two years ago. They drew terrific ratings for it last year, and it was only a little shorter than this year.

[Guest Fishyswa]

Eventually they just might have The Ocho....

[nl5xsk1 0]

Curling, baby!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I actually watch curling each time I catch it on TV. Maybe it's just because it's rarely on, and thus it's kind of 'a treat' to watch it, and if it was on every week I'd not tune in. And I do have to admit, I watch women's curling for the eye-candy as much as I do for the love of the sport.

[starvenger 0]

If there is bodily harm, then I'm down.

 

If not, let's just popularize bowling.  Again.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Apparently you missed the ESPN tournament where athletes like Terrel Owens and Dave Mirra bowl against each other.

 

I watch women's curling for the eye-candy as much as I do for the love of the sport.

That's a real stretch, as you're generally talking about maybe 1 or 2 teams there.

 

I don't see anything particularly wrong with curling, other than the typically slow pace of the game. But then, I'm Canadian.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I watch women's curling for the eye-candy as much as I do for the love of the sport.

That's a real stretch, as you're generally talking about maybe 1 or 2 teams there.

 

I don't see anything particularly wrong with curling, other than the typically slow pace of the game. But then, I'm Canadian.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The most recent curling that I watched was the US vs. Sweden. Needless to say, I was rooting for the Amerks. And while there are a lot of Omega Moos on the team, the US had some talent:

 

http://www.usacurl.org/athletes/biographie..._johnson05.html

http://www.usacurl.org/athletes/biographie..._schultz05.html

 

(there were a couple of others that were decent, but not worth C&Ping on The Pit)

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I didn't think I'd get this much support for curling, especially when you factor in how many people can't believe I watch golf every week faithfully.

 

I really don't consider it to be slow paced, and a great curling shot can be indeed pretty freakin exciting. Anyone here ever curl? It's both really hard and remarkably fun. That makes it a lot more entertaining on television. In addition, the close cameras will often really capture the emotion we don't see al that often in say, baseball TV coverage.

[CanadianChris 0]

Sweeping is fucking hard. You need to be in shape to do that.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'm actually very good at darts. Archery, as I found out in junior year phy. ed., did not come so easily to me. I almost shot my teacher in the ass.

[starvenger 0]

I really don't consider it to be slow paced, and a great curling shot can be indeed pretty freakin exciting.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It depends what you consider fast-paced. I'd call it slow-paced because of all the strategizing. Even though strategizing is part of what makes it interesting to watch.

 

And for the record, I also think baseball is a slow-paced game.

 

Anyone here ever curl? It's both really hard and remarkably fun. That makes it a lot more entertaining on television. In addition, the close cameras will often really capture the emotion we don't see al that often in say, baseball TV coverage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think sweeping could seriously hurt your back given the amount of effort that goes into it. And while I've never played, I'm trying to convince the wife to try it with me.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Sorry to bump this thread, but I think they found something to make curling more popular ... showing the women nekkid.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...BNStory/Sports/

 

borderline NSFW picture within, btw

[Art Sandusky 0]

Is there a particular reason people got bored with the sports we've followed for years and years?

 

Maybe I'm pissed that Poker and all these other games that were mutated into sports somehow still get more respect than any form of auto racing.