The split in darts refers to the acrimonious 1993 dispute between professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), resulting in the creation of a rival darts circuit under the banner of the World Darts Council, which eventually became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
Darts had boomed as a televised sport in Britain the 1980s, and the resulting influx of sponsorship and prize money allowed many players to turn professional. But by the end of the decade, television coverage had dropped to just one tournament. In 1993, 16 top players, disillusioned by the BDO's running of the sport and what they saw as its inability to reverse the decline in television coverage and sponsorship, left the BDO to run their own tournaments as the World Darts Council (WDC).
The BDO responded by imposing a worldwide ban on the rebel players and anyone who associated with them. A costly four year legal battle ensued, culminating in a compromise Tomlin Order in 1997. The BDO lifted the ban and formally recognised the WDC and the right of players to freely participate in darts competitions. In return, the WDC dropped its claim to being a world governing body and renamed itself the Professional Darts Corporation. Thereafter, each organisation had its own pool of players and tournaments, and each staged its own version of the World Professional Darts Championship.
The BDO folded into administration in October 2020 and the World Darts Federation took over control of BDO events, so the split in darts remains.[1] The WDF subsequently established its own version of the World Darts Championship and the inaugural event took place in 2022.