Hearn says darts can become "the working class golf"

Barry Hearn has said that progress is being made in the Professional Darts Corporation's bid to take over the British Darts Organisation.

Hearn's offer of £1m for the BDO was rejected in October.

But the PDC chief told BBC Radio Stoke: "I'm awaiting a letter from their lawyers requesting further information.

"It's a step forward. It's not a no and it's not a yes. It makes me feel slightly positive, but clearly there's still a long way to go."

On rejecting Hearn's initial bid, BDO boss Olly Croft said that his organisation was "not for sale" at any price and that the offer was "nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt".

But, the individual county associations that make up the BDO met on Sunday to discuss the proposed unification of the sport.

As well as promising to honour all of the BDO's existing tournaments, Hearn has said he will pump money into the game's grassroots.

"The PDC needs the BDO," admitted Hearn. "The county associations do a fantastic job, mostly unpaid and working with no money.

"They keep the game alive at amateur level. I need an amateur level to produce the stars of tomorrow otherwise in five or 10 years the bubble will burst.

"We need a unified sport for the general good of the game. We've got to provide finance for everyone to enjoy darts.

"There's no money going into the amateur game from the BDO. The BDO hasn't changed for 20 years - they don't know how to run a business.

"If you don't know how to run a business in sport, you're out of business.

"We're saying 'Let us help you, we'll show you how to run a business properly and we'll provide finance for the things you need'.

"If that's wrong, tell me. We'll walk away and we'll spend it on ourselves."

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