Darts is a great way to bring people into pubs, and leading licensing solicitors, Poppleston Allen, is advising on how publicans should proceed.
This week, we saw 16-year-old Luke Littler compete in the World Darts Championship final. And though Littler didn’t win, he certainly captured the nation’s interest, with a huge majority backing him. However, what’s interesting for publicans is the rise in general interest in darts.
Though darts is hugely popular with loyal fans, it’s not a sport that tends to attract new viewers. However, the rise in media coverage of Littler’s impressive winning streak has piqued the interest of the general public.
So there’s a huge opportunity for publicans to draw some much-needed additional footfall in January by jumping on the bandwagon and dusting off the darts board.
By promoting the use of a darts board in their venue, licensees could welcome in new and existing customers who want to try their hand at a game while enjoying the pub environment.
“The playing of darts itself is not a licensable activity requiring a premises licence,” says Alex Tomlinson, solicitor at Poppleston Allen. “However, if you are to have an audience watching a darts tournament or league game in the pub and the audience is being ‘entertained’ by the tournament, then this, technically, would be licensable.
“Luckily, in June 2013, the government brought in a range of deregulatory measures, one of which related to the playing of indoor sports. As a result, any indoor sporting event played between 8am and 11pm, with an audience of up to a maximum of 1,000 people, is simply not licensable and therefore does not need any explicit authorisation stated on the licence.
“Clearly, if the tournament does go beyond 11pm or in the unlikely event more than 1,000 people are watching then you will need authorisation.
“Please do remember if there are no spectators and only the people participating themselves are watching this is not licensable, whether or not it is before 8am or after 11pm.”
