Professional darts player Alex “The Jackal” Spellman joined host Kelsey Nicole Nelson on the award-winning “Listen in with KNN” sports and entertainment sports talk radio and podcast show to talk about what first got him hooked on the sport, the reality of playing darts as a career, and different charities using darts to empower communities.
“The real selling point of the game isn’t the sport itself; it’s the things that come with it,” said Spellman.
A native of North Carolina, Spellman is a two-time Championship Darts Corporation Continental Cup champion. Spellman is also a brand ambassador of the Nodor Group, one of the largest manufacturers of darts equipment globally.
“There are so many people that maybe don’t know the rules, but they have a board at home. [Darts] is in the background of every TV show and movie,” said Spellman.
Spellman shared that he recently shaved his head for charity and that, in the past, he has partnered with various organizations and charities that assist the darts community, such as World Para Darts. This charity seeks to enable, support, and promote disabled players worldwide.
“With the way technology is, our game really blew up during COVID. It was hard for other sports to keep continuing. We were playing as if nothing was holding us back,” said Spellman.
Spellman added that the former view of darts as a bar sport is evolving into something more inclusive for beginners and casual players.
“You can play from home, you can play with the family. You don’t need a $150 board. You can start with something cheaper. Compared to other sports, it’s extremely cheap in that regard,” said Spellman.
Darts, according to Spellman, is a great opportunity for children to reinforce what they are already learning in school: math, strategy, and critical thinking. Additionally, Spellman shared that performing on stage is a great benefit for young players learning to compete.
Spellman found his niche in darts while in college; he remembers being in a sports bar watching a game when a tournament needed an extra competitor. He joined, made the finals, and knew he needed to pursue darts professionally.
“I played all the sports growing up; darts has been the most challenging because when it’s easy, it’s so easy, but when it’s hard, oh my God, it’s hard,” said Spellman.
During a time when he was between jobs, Spellman continued to play darts. Spellman shared that, despite the difficulty of making a living playing darts professionally in the US, he kept winning and succeeding in the sport.
“I might actually be able to make a living at this, and everyone told me I couldn’t, and in a weird way that motivates you to prove them wrong,” said Spellman.
Speaking about the growing popularity of darts as a sport, Spellman explained the differences in playing in Europe vs the U.S.
“Darts is very much a European sport; it’s second only to soccer. But it’s continuing to grow,” said Spellman.
Spellman shared that to compete in darts competitively, one needs to continue to play against the best of the best, something that is more difficult to do in America because of the size of the country compared to the UK or continental Europe, where a drive to a neighboring country is much less than a road trip from Raleigh, North Carolina to Los Angeles, California.
“If I got in my car in London and drove 40 hours, I’d be in the middle of Russia somewhere. There are people that say, “I will not go to a tournament if it’s more than an hour away.” Sometimes it takes me an hour just to get to the other side of town,” said Spellman.
Spellman shared what competing looks like to him, whether he’s playing on TV or in front of a smaller crowd.
“When you’re playing on TV, you feel like you’re playing for the people supporting you. It adds more pressure,” said Spellman.
Even without a larger distribution of darts on television, Spellman asserted that the sport continues to expand and reach new fans.
“We’re on the right path; we’re growing; we’re getting better,” said Spellman.
Spellman explained that anyone beginning darts as a sport shouldn’t be worried about starting with the most expensive equipment.
“There’s no such thing as a beginner dart or an advanced dart. Before I got sponsored, I was using a $15 set from Amazon,” said Spellman.
Spellman spoke about the differences between darts and other competitive sports, explaining that darts is in constant momentum.
“With darts, once the match starts it doesn’t stop until it ends,” said Spellman.
“ I did a search of what sports have the highest rate of the underdog winning, and the results were MMA and darts,” Spellman said that in darts, this is true because sometimes the best player doesn’t always win, and it comes down to finishing the game; you have to hit a double, which can be a challenge even for the best players.
“Getting [darts] in front of people is happening now; we have some major deals with ESPN to show the world championship, the grand slam and stuff that’s going to be massive,” said Spellman.
Players who don’t have a league near them shouldn’t be discouraged from participating in the sport, as Spellman shared that he himself plays in an online league to keep his skills sharp.
Spellman explained how he approaches his matches and what keeps him in the game.
“My routine is not having one. If I start building up, I feel like it makes me worse personally. If I start hyperfocusing on something in a very serious manner, it can often go badly. So for me, I just put in the time, I practice, and I focus on how I’m feeling,” said Spellman.
Listeners who want to learn more about the world of darts can go to winmau.com and worldofdarts.com. Follow Alex Spellman online at Facebook.com/sportztawk for upcoming appearances.
Darts fans in the D.C. area: the 26th annual Washington Area Open returns September 4-6. For more information, visit Champdarts.com.
Digital and Editorial Summer intern for Listen in with KNN.