COVENTRY’s Ricoh Arena has been announced as the new venue for the 20th edition of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix darts tournament in October.
The event had originally been scheduled to be held at the Citywest Convention Centre in Dublin in the tournament’s landmark year, with those plans being scrapped and a new venue sought in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
With matches in the Premier League, which restarted in Milton Keynes earlier this week, and the World Matchplay also being played behind closed doors, the decision was made to stage the tournament in Coventry between Tuesday October 6th and Monday October 12th.
The city has history of hosting top-level darts, having staged a number of Premier League match days and PDC ProTour weekends.
PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter says the rescheduled event can be a success in CV6, despite the lack of an audience.
“Whilst we’re dis-appointed we will not be at the Citywest Convention Centre in 2020, we can now look forward to an exciting and entertaining event at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry,” he stated.
“We saw an outstanding standard of play at the recent World Matchplay and we are sure that will continue in the World Grand Prix, which remains a challenging and unique event due to the double-start format.”
Paul Michael, the commercial venue director at the Ricoh Arena, believes the city can benefit generously from the move, adding: “This event will strengthen our relationship with the PDC, and demonstrate the diversity of the venue and its ambition to encourage more elite sports to Coventry.”
