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 The Super Show® 2002 was held Monday,
January 21, through Wednesday, January 23, at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. This was the 17th year for
the event, hosted by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), where virtually every aspect of the sporting goods industry is featured.
Attending the Show provides the opportunity to see nearly all the manufacturers and distributors in a particular industry of sporting goods and
then to see, touch, and feel all the new and continued products available.
While The Super Show® remains the largest sporting goods show servicing
sporting goods retailers, the focus is mainly toward the larger sporting goods retailers, national retailers such as: Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Sport Authority
, and many others. Hence, all sporting goods were divided up into 21 distinct
product shows within The Super Show®. Dart manufacturers and distributors who provide dart products to national retailers were present to meet and
service the buyers present from their major clients.
There are other specialty sporting goods shows that offer dart manufacturers
and distributors additional opportunities to promote and sell their products to smaller, perhaps, more regioanl retailers. The Billiard Congress of America
Show (BCA Show) is one of these specialty shows. As a result, more dart manufacturers and distributors are often present at the BCA Show than at
The Super Show®.
 Major dart manufacturers and distributors with booth space at this year’s Show were Dart
World, Inc., DMI Sports, Inc., Escalade Sports for the Accudart line, General Sportcraft, Ltd., Great Lakes Darts Manufacturer, Inc., and
Regent Sports Corporation.
The SGMA reports that 2001 was a difficult year for the sporting good industry as it
was with most businesses in America due to the depressed economy. There has been a 4% increase in sporting goods sales over the past ten years, and
2002 appears to have a marginal potential for increased sporting goods sales as people turn from expensive vacations and more to sporting goods. This
shift should be good news to most dart manufacturers and distributors as more people look to darts as one of their liesure activities.
The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) tracks the sales of
sporting goods products through retailers and produces reports on sports participation. The mission is stated as, “The NSGA exists to help its
members profit in a competitive marketplace. It does so by providing cost-saving services, information and education. In Addition, NSGA serves as the
voice of the retailer/dealer, speaking out on issues that affect sporting goods retailers/dealers….”
One important service the NSGA provides is the report on sports participation
. This report provides statistics that give the number of participants in over 60
different sporting activities throughout the US. The report further compares participation in one sport with other sports and provides an idea to retailers
and dealers in which states people are more likely to participate in specific sports.
Comparing 39 diffent sports in all 50 states, dart throwing is one of the top
five sports in participation for people in Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Tennessee. What that means is that
people from these states are more likely to throw darts than people from any state that is not listed. There may be more people who play darts in
California than in Iowa, but comparing the number of people who play darts in California and Iowa separately to the total number of people who play darts in
the US, it is more likey that someone from Iowa plays darts than someone from California. This information helps retailers/dealers distribute their
product to locations that will help them improve profits.
The lastest report from the NSGA, year 2000, has dart throwing as the 18th
most popular sport in terms of participation in the US, with 17.4 million people playing darts. This doesn’t mean 17.4 million people play in league
darts somewhere. It means that during the year 2000, an estimated 17.4 million people played darts. Dart throwing is more popular as a participant
sport than sports like baseball, soccer, football, tennis, and skiing, but less popular than sports such as swimming, fishing, bowling, pool/billiards,
basketball, golf, and hiking. The following table from the NSGA 2000 reports provides an idea how dart throwing stacks up.
2000 SPORTS PARTICIPATION
Ranked by Total Participation (in millions) - Participated more than once.
The daunting statistic for the year 2000 is that dart throwing declined in
participation from 1999 by 13.8%. However, over the past 10 years, dart throwing has increased by 2.4%. The following table, from the NSGA, shows
the participation of dart throwing in the US over the past 10 years.
Sports Participation for Dart Throwing for the Last 10 Years
Participated more than once (in millions)
As one entered the main hall at The Super Show®, the first booth where
darts were featured was General Sportcraft, Ltd. There, Edward and Richard Lowy were on hand to promote the new package for their line of Unicorn®
dart products. One of the highlights in the new Unicorn® line is the new Eclipse dartboard, which will be used at all PDC tournaments through
contract. Details of this dartboard and the new Unicorn® packaging will be featured in future issues.
Sportcraft has been the Unicorn® distributor in the US from day one and
continues to provide a strong line of dart products to the mass retailers. They were the first to provide inexpensive electronic dart machine to the industry
and still carry a very extensive and reasonably priced line of electronic dartboards.
Beyond the Sportcraft booth was the Regent Sports booth. Regent had
many new products on display including a stand up cabinet with a Halex®
electrontic dartboard for under $200. Regent’s Halex® electronic dartboards
range from $14.99 up to $159.99 for ones with all the bells and whistles and dozens of different game options.
Regent’s newest addition to their dartboard line provides ‘the best of both
worlds’ and is called the Fusion dartboard. This electronic scoring dartboard
is for both steel and soft tipped darts. More detailed information will follow in future issues.
 Dart World, Inc. was the next
booth visited. Mark Amirault from Dart World and Robert Pringle of Harrows were on hand to promote their newest products. Dart World featured
numerous new products including their newest additions to the Harley Davidson® branded product, Magnetic darts from Harrows, Budweiser
dartboards and accessories, and more.
Featured in this issue will be the new Harley Davidson® licensed products
offered by Dart World, Inc. The Harley Davidson® Dartboard depicts an
actual Harley Davidson® engine in the center of the dartboard. Made of fine quality African sisal fibers, it also has a staple free bullseye.
The Harley Davidson® Bar &Shield Cabinet is made of specially selected
pine with a fine funiture finish in light stain. The design and quality of the
engraved shield makes this cabinet truly unique and includes a scoreboard, outchart, and dart holders.
The Harley Davidson® Sidecars feature replaceable flights and shafts and are
tiny replicas of a full size set of darts. The Sidecars look and fly like a standard set of darts, measuring under 3 inches and weighing in at a mere 4
grams. These darts are fun on a board of any size.
The Harley Davidson Piston Point features a unique point that dramatically
reduces bounce-outs resulting in higher scores. When a dart hits a wire, the
energy from the dart’s forward thrust drives the point past the wire into the
board for a scoring dart. The Piston Point is a serious dart with a look and feel that matches its high-tech design. The barrels are designed with
extreme grip zones, providing the ultimate in a non-slip grip. Each barrel is engraved with the Bar & Shield logo making this dart distinctly Harley®.
Finally, the new Harley Davison® Twin Shooters in both soft and steel tipped
designs provides two sets of darts for the price of one, featuring a competition
chrome dart and a set of Harley Davidson® Sidecar mini darts. Both sets
have polished chrome barrels, accented with Harley Davison’s® traditional colors of black and orange.
 Escalade Sports was the only booth featuring a professional darts player to help promote
their new Accudart® line of dart product and their line of Winmau® products. Stacy Bromberg was on hand to take on challengers and explain the
virtues of the Accudart® and Winmau® products. The use of Professionals helped Escalade capture potential clients within their booth as
they also featured a professional billiards/pool player and the number 3 table
tennis player in the world. Escalade was continually busy introducing their line of product to the many who were captivated by the skill of these players.
Escalade has given Accudart® a face lift developing a series of Accudart®
dartboards and lines of darts matched to a person’s skill level. The new Accudart® product line is coordinated to make the best impression in the
market place and upon the consumer. Specific items will be featured in future issues.
DMI Sports, Inc. was present with a tremedous selection of new dart
products (to be featured in future issues) and an expanded line of other sporting good products including Minnesota Fats® pool and billiards items,
Prince® table tennis, and much much more.
Gary and Paul Giegerich were on hand to greet potential customers, while
Travis Kennedy, DMI Sport’s marketing and Product Development Coordinator, provided the details of each line. DMI’s strong line of dart products include
Nodor® dartboards, Arachnid electronic games, and several of the finest steel tip electronic dartboards on the market. DMI also featured a new standing
cabinet for under $200 retail that rivals all fine furniture.
Between DMI Sports and Escalade was situated Great Lakes Dart
Manufacturing. Great Lakes has expanded their marketing to include many indoor games including pool and billiards, foosball, shuffelboard and of course
darts. Their newest electronic dartboard is called the Viper® and features a
slick modern cabinet with all the bells and whistles. Future issues will feature more details of the new Great Lakes line of products.
Not featured at the Show, but new in the dart market is Paratech Systems
new dartboard The Revolution® in Darts. The Revolution® is an authentic
bristle dartboard that electronically scores both soft-tipped and steel-tipped darts. Introduced as The Revolution®, the new home game features a league
approved bristle board, wood cabinet, remote control and electronic scoring of over 30 classic dart games.
According to electronic darts pioneer, Rudy Allison, The Revolution® has
been in the works for years. “When I first began the development of the electronic soft-tip dart game almost 30 years ago, it was always my ultimate
desire to develop an electronic game that could be played on a traditional bristle board for steel darts. Soft tips have never compared to the feel of steel.
It’s the way the game was meant to be played.”
The introduction of The Revolution® comes only days after a coin-operated
version was demonstrated at the recent American Darters Association tournament in St. Louis. As reported in the Jan/Feb edition of Bull’s-Eye
News, “The big news of the evening surrounded the new ADA coin-operated steel tip dart machine that was well received by the St. Louis steel tip ‘purists.’”
With The Revolution®, darters can now enjoy the same ADA endorsed
technology of the coin- operated game in their own homes. Up to four players can enjoy the game and players can also practice against the computer at
variable skill levels. The Revolution® comes equipped with EZ-Mount wall
hanging hardware and a free set of both steel-tip and soft-tip darts. To locate
a Revolution® retailer near you or place an order online, log on to www.revolutiondarts.com or call 800.669.9597. As a special introductory offer,
Paratech Systems includes a free leather darting vest and free shipping with each game purchased online. Suggested manufacturer’s retail price is listed
at $700 US. See ad in this issue, page 17.
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