Darts returns to the Theater at Madison Square Garden this weekend, with eight of the world’s best players set to take on some of the best players that North America has to offer.
The 2025 US Darts Masters, which takes place at the Theater on Friday and Saturday, pits eight elite players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) against eight players from across the US and Canada, with each elite player taking on a North American representative during the opening session on Friday night.
All eight winners proceed to the Saturday evening session, which features the event’s quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
The US Darts Masters is part of the 2025 World Series of Darts, which takes darts to locations around the world as part of efforts to make the sport more popular around the globe.
Darts is most popular in European, especially in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland. It has been 11 years since a non-European player made the quarter-finals of the annual World Darts Championship, held around Christmas every year.
A sport predominately built around atmosphere and fan engagement, darts is renowned for rowdy groups of fans who routinely dress up in costume and engage with players as they take to the stage.
A typical game of darts consists of a number of individual legs, with both players starting on 501 and attempting to get down to zero as quickly as possible. Players throw three darts at a time and can score a maximum of 180 points in any visit to the board. They must finish – or “check out” – on a double, located around the edge of the board.
Rob Cross, who won the 2024 US Darts Masters, said first-time fans can expected an “amazing” atmosphere when the 2025 event kicks off on Friday night.
“It’s a great crowd and a great atmosphere,” Cross said. “I remember playing against Michael (Van Gerwen) last year and we just hit 180s back-to-back. The crowd was just buzzing. Absolutely amazing.”
Cross said he was “hooked” watching darts on TV while he was growing up and believes that first-time fans who watch over the weekend will be similarly invested.
“It should be loud. It’s going to be a great atmosphere. And not only that, you’re going to watch the best dart players in the world throwing darts.”
Luke Littler, the young sensation who made a name for himself by reaching the 2024 World Championship finals at the age of 16, said he had “very good” memories of making his US Darts Masters debut at the Theater last summer.
“The atmosphere was very good,” Littler said. “We just want to put on a show and play our best darts.”
Damon Heta, an Australian making his debut at the US Darts Masters, said he is looking forward to “putting on a show” in front of the New York crowd and added that he is hoping to get the crowd involved by “smashing a load of 180s.”
Heta, the only non-European player on the “elite” side of the draw, spoke of the importance of growing the sport outside of Europe, noting that darts is still viewed as a niche sport in his native Australia. However, he noted that the sport has experienced “massive” growth in recent years, with Cross and Littler also noting that the sport has grown astronomically thanks, in parts, to social media.
Heta insisted that the US Darts Masters is both accessible and fun for all fans, whether they are first-time viewers or experienced darts fans.
“It’s a matter of just getting a bunch of mates, having fun, singing some songs, and just interacting with everybody there,” Heta said.
Cross, meanwhile, believes it is of great importance to take darts around the world and boost the sport’s exposure. Cross also praised Littler’s influence on the sport since he made a name for himself 18 months ago, noting that Little has helped increase darts’ exposure among younger fans.
“It’s gotten easier to promote the game in the last few years,” Cross said. “With the young man (Littler) coming in, he’s done some great things for darts. He’s put darts in different places which you couldn’t dream of.
“It (darts) just never seems to stop getting bigger, even in the eight years that I’ve been playing it,” Cross added. “It’s actually made a jump every year for me. It’s always gotten bigger.”
For the sport to grow in North America, however, Cross believes that there needs to be US and Canadian players competing for the top trophies and giving North American fans something to be invested in.
“You need your own individual spokesman in that game, so people can get behind them.”
Cross further believes that there are plenty of dangerous players in the US and Canada ready to take out any of the “elite” players if they do not bring their game on Friday night.
“You can never overlook any of them because darts is a funny game.”
