Sport1 success raises competition for darts rights in Germany

German sports broadcaster Sport1 is set to face competition from pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland and commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 for the rights to Professional Darts Corporation events from 2017, according to Die Zeit.

The German newspaper said Sky and ProSiebenSat.1 have taken note of the rating success enjoyed by Sport1 during the 2015 World Darts Championship and intend to compete in the rights tender launched by Matchroom Sport, the majority shareholder in the PDC.

Viewing figures for the 2015 World Championship on Sport1 peaked with a 1.36 million average audience and 1.86 million high during the final on January 4 – a record for darts in Germany.