This blog post is about the largest darts association in Germany – the DSAB. There are many darts associations, but before steel darts became popular in recent years, many more people played soft-tip darts .
The DSAB gave these players a home. The Dart League organizes all major electronic darts tournaments and is considered a pioneer. Its membership is far higher than any other darts association in Germany. Soft darts have been popular for much longer than steel darts .
What is the DSAB?
The abbreviation DSAB stands for Deutscher Sportautomatenbund e. V. (German Sports Machine Association ). As the name suggests, the DSAB is an association for electronic darts.
In every league of the Darts Association, you play on so-called dart machines, which can be found in many pubs and restaurants in Germany. This is also the reason for the association's size and popularity. Dart machines have been around in pubs for decades, while steel darts are still struggling to establish themselves in restaurants – partly due to financial incentives , but more on that later.
The DSAB provides structure for the electronic darts scene . Each German state has several local leagues in which local teams compete against each other .
The association's official website is dsab-vfs.de . The second abbreviation – vfs – stands for Verein zur Förderung des Automatensports e. V. (Association for the Promotion of Slot Machine Sports). VFS DSAB is therefore not just an association, but also an organization dedicated to promoting this sport.
This gives the construct more structure and ensures the continuous expansion of the league system .
The history of the DSAB League
The beginnings of DSAB Dart go back several years. In September 1989, the German Sports Machine Association was founded to promote and structure the sport of electronic darts.
Because there had always been significant differences in quality between opponents, the DSAB pioneered a league system in which players and teams were divided into A, B, and C classes based on their strengths. This allowed each team to compete with opponents on equal terms .
Darts history: The rapid rise of the Darts Association reached its first peak around the turn of the millennium. Nearly 18,000 teams were registered with the DSAB in 2000 —an incredible number for a niche sport in Germany.
This shows that the German Sports Machine Association recognized the need very early on and drew the right conclusions .
Why is the German Sports Machine Association so big?
The reasons for the DSAB's size are varied and often simple. An association of this size can only offer a place for many people if membership is easy and attractive .
In 1999, more than 800 teams took part in the DLMM, the German League Team Championships – the largest darts tournament in the world at the time.
There are other reasons for the success and size of the DSAB. One of them is its age. The darts association has existed for 31 years . This shows that the association was already attracting members interested in darts long before the darts boom in Germany.
There are also two practical examples of why the DSAB has grown.
- First, it's interesting to know how many members the association has in total. The answer: a whopping 80,000 members!
- One main reason is its appeal to pubs . Pubs make money with electronic darts. How? Firstly, through the drinks and food sold during a darts game. Dart machines also offer an opportunity to generate income , as the owner receives a portion of the money from each game. This is why electronic darts are often more attractive to pubs than steel darts.
- A final factor contributing to the DSAB's success is that it's easy for people to join . Joining the DSAB is simple. All you need is a Löwen dart machine and a minimum number of players for a team. The financial outlay to field a team in an official DSAB league is also manageable.
DSAB rules, rankings, leagues and tournaments
In the final chapter on Germany's largest darts association, we take a closer look at the rules , rankings , leagues, and tournaments . How is the association organized?
The leagues are organized by federal state. Each state has many local leagues where teams can compete locally without having to travel long distances.
For example, Rhineland-Palatinate is divided into several major regions. Within each major region, there is a further division based on quality—depending on the number of teams—into several A, B, and C divisions. This league structure has been functioning successfully for several decades.
For each of these leagues, there is a corresponding individual, team, results , and round ranking that league players can view. In addition to this league system, there are also other tournaments .
The largest of these tournaments is the German League Team Championship (DLMM), which takes place in Geiselwind .
The DSAB ranking structure
Also interesting is the DSAB Tour, which creates a Germany-wide ranking list .
But back to Geiselwind: In addition to the DLMM, the Masters of Masters also takes place here, where you compete against your opponents in singles, as well as the German Championships.
Rules of the Darts Association
The DSAB rules differ little from those for steel darts – with two exceptions. In soft darts, darts that fall out of the dartboard also count.
Additionally, the distance to the board was adjusted a few years ago. Previously, the darts were thrown from 2.44 m . The throwing distance is now 2.37 m , similar to steel tip darts.
Conclusion on the DSAB
The DSAB is the largest darts association in Germany and offers an excellent structure for all electronic darts players . With its flexible league systems, simple membership conditions, and attractive offers for pubs, the DSAB has built a large membership base . Whether you're a new player or a long-time veteran, the DSAB has something to offer everyone.
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