Luke Duffy reports on SITA’s highly successful activation for BetMGM to announce the beginning of the Darts Premier League.

OVERVIEW 

Premier League Darts sponsor BetMGM wanted to create a splash ahead of the new season.

The brief was to deliver a distinctive, remarkable stunt that would cut through a crowded sports calendar, drive coverage around BetMGM’s darts partnership and generate standout content for media, social and BetMGM’s own channels in a short notice period.

ACTIVITY 

The hero creative idea centred on a giant golden dart “arriving” in Newcastle, symbolising BetMGM bringing the Premier League Darts back to the city.

Working alongside brand experience agency onepointfive, we liaised with local authorities including NE1 Marina, Newcastle Council and Port of Tyne, secured approvals for a branded vessel to carry a replica lightweight golden dart along a defined stretch of the River Tyne, ensuring striking backdrops featuring the Tyne and Gateshead Millennium Bridge. The work with onepointfive also included BetMGM branding of the boat; custom flags and a blackcovered deck to maximise visibility for aerial and social content.

To anchor the stunt on land, a bespoke three-metre dartboard base structure was created, angled to keep BetMGM branding prominent in all photography and video. The golden dart was mounted perpendicular to the base, creating a bold, three-dimensional installation which served as the centrepiece to the hero image with all eight Premier League players positioned alongside it. The dartboard design was fully BetMGM-branded, featuring a traditional board layout with a gold lion logo for maximum brand exposure.​

On event day, the boat carried the golden dart within a designated area of the Tyne to capture a range of assets: wide hero visuals with the bridges, tighter productled shots, and shortform clips optimised for social. The journey was timed to sync with media and content teams on the Quayside, portraying the dart “arriving” by river before being unveiled for photocalls and fan interaction.

RESULT 

We delivered a visually impactful BetMGM moment across one of Newcastle’s most recognisable landmarks, giving the brand a clear ownership of Premier League Darts in the city. The combination of a large-scale physical build, river journey and player presence provided a bank of versatile content for media, BetMGM channels and PDC coverage, all built around a single, memorable golden dart.

We secured 40+ pieces of online coverage from the activation, plus two appearances of the giant golden dart on BBC Look North and Sky Sports. Regional coverage was a strong focus for us, so it was rewarding to see the Chronicle newspaper use our imagery in print. Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries’ posts on X helped drive our social media coverage further, as well as our own captured video of the event being used by Wales Online and the Daily Express.

Operationally, the project showcased our ability to oversee complex production with the support of onepointfive, from marine permissions and council approvals to technical 3D builds and live event logistics. By aligning creative, safety and venue requirements to a tight deadline, we ensured the golden dart stunt landed smoothly and set a strong benchmark for future BetMGM Premier League Darts activity.

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