Dart League

How has this idea enhanced your club's operation, etc.?

In just a few short seasons, the Great Oaks dart league has become second only to golf as the most popular activity at the club.  There are now over 130 members in the 9-week league that runs mid-January to mid-March.  This generates nearly $60,000 in league fees and F&B revenue during a time when the club would traditionally see very little activity.  In addition to the revenue increase, the league helps build relationships between different member groups (class, age, gender) that typically don’t have as much occasion to interact.  This enhances the overall membership experience which strengthens member connection to the club (member retention).  Members are also happy about having a great reason to use the club during the traditional off season.  We have even found that it is a great selling point as prospective members are touring the facility!

How was this idea implemented, and what have been the club members' reactions?

Members sign up as teams or individually to be placed on a team.  We play a format of darts that fits well for scheduling multiple rounds of play per night and devised a scoring format/handicapping algorithm that allows players of all skill levels to be competitive in the league.  Our maintenance staff built portable stands for the dart boards and we put on a buffet dinner for each night of league. 

The membership response to the dart league has been overwhelmingly positive!  The league quickly grew organically from just a handful of players in the initial season to over 130 players just a couple seasons later.  Because the league was so popular one of our members even created a mobile app (Dart Genius) that manages the entire league including scheduling, scoring, team and individual statistics, and league standings.  This has taken administration of the league from many hours each week to only a couple hours before the first week!