In this blog post we look at the largest darts association in Germany – the DSAB. There are many associations in darts. But before steel darts experienced a boom in recent years, far more players played e-darts . The DSAB gave these players a home. The dart league organizes all major tournaments in the field of electronic darts in Germany and is considered a pioneer. The number of members is far higher than any other darts association in Germany. Soft darts have been on everyone's lips for much longer than steel darts have been.
What is the DSAB?
The abbreviation DSAB stands for Deutscher Sportautomatenbund e. V. As the name suggests, the DSAB is an e-darts association. In every league of the dart association you play on so-called dart machines - which, as we all know, are found in many pubs and restaurants in Germany. And this is exactly the reason for the enormous size and popularity of the association. Dart machines have been around in bars for decades, while steel darts are still trying to establish themselves in restaurants - also due to financial incentives, but more on that later.
The DSAB provides structure in the electronic dart scene. In each federal state there are several local leagues in which the respective teams compete against each other. The official website of the association is now dsab-vfs.de. The second abbreviation - vfs - stands for Association for the Promotion of Slot Machine Sports. V.. VFS DSAB is not only an association, but also a club to promote this sport. This fact gives the entire construct more structure and ensures the continuous expansion of the league system.
The history of the DSAB League
The beginnings of DSAB Dart date back several years. The German Sports Machine Association was founded in September 1989 to promote and structure the promotion of e-dart sports. Since there were always enormous differences in the quality between opponents, the DSAB was also a pioneer of a league system in which the players and teams are divided into A, B and C classes - depending on their strength. This meant that each team could compete with an opponent in their weight class.
The rapid rise of the darts association reached its first peak at the turn of the millennium. Almost 18,000 teams were registered with the DSAB in 2000 - an incredible number for a niche sport in Germany. But this also 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 why the DSAB is so large are varied and mostly relatively simple. That's often how it is in life. Such an association can only offer a place for as many people as possible if membership is simple and attractive.
It was not for nothing that in 1999 more than 800 teams took part in the DLMM, the German League team championships - which was, incidentally, the largest darts tournament in the world at the time.
But there are other diverse reasons for the success and size of the DSAB. One of these reasons is age. The darts association has existed for 31 years now. This of course shows that the association welcomed interested members in darts long before the darts boom in Germany.
But there are also two completely practical examples of why the DSAB has grown in this way. But first of all, you'll probably be interested to know how many members this association has in total.
80,000 members
The answer: a whopping 80,000 members!
One main reason is certainly the attractiveness for pubs. This means that a pub makes money with e-darts. But how exactly?
Sure, about the drinks and food sold during a darts game. But the dart machine also offers the opportunity to generate money, because the owner of the restaurant receives a portion of the money thrown in for each game. For this reason, e-darts are often much more interesting for bars than steel darts.
A final point to the success and size of DSAB Dart is that people can join very easily. It is very easy to become a member of the DSAB. All you need is a lion dart machine and a minimum number of players for a team. The financial effort to field a team in an official DSAB league is also manageable.
DSAB rules, DSAB rankings, leagues and tournaments
In the last chapter about the largest darts association in Germany, we take a close look at the rules , the rankings as well as the leagues and tournaments. How exactly is the association organized?
The leagues are organized depending on the federal state. In every federal state there are a number of local leagues in which teams can compete locally without having to travel too far.
An example: In Rhineland-Palatinate there is initially a division into many large regions. In a large region, there is a division depending on quality - depending on the number of teams, into several A classes, B classes and C classes. A league structure that has worked successfully for several decades.
For each of these leagues there is also a corresponding individual, team, result and round ranking list that the players in the league can look at. In addition to this league system, there are also other tournaments. The largest of these tournaments is the already mentioned DLMM – the German League Team Championship, which takes place in Geiselwind.
The DSAB ranking structure
The DSAB Tour, in which a Germany-wide ranking list is used, is also particularly interesting. But back to the venue in Geiselwind. Because not only the DLMM takes place here, but also the Masters of Masters, where you compete in singles against your opponents, as well as the German championships.
At the very end, take another look at the rules of the dart association. These currently hardly differ from the rules in steel darts - with two exceptions. As always, with e-darts, those arrows that fall out of the dartboard also count. And on the other hand, the distance to the board was adjusted a few years ago. Previously it was thrown from 2.44 m. The throwing distance is now 2.37 m, similar to steel darts.
So there are no longer any big differences for all darts players to switch between the two sports.
Ready to immerse yourself in the fascinating world of darts? Explore the secrets, tactics and compelling stories behind this exciting sport. Click in now and become a dart enthusiast!
- Is darts a sport or a pastime ? Find out why darts is recognized as a sport. Our experts will clarify. Click here and find out!
- The most impressive darts records at a glance. Find out now and be amazed. Immerse yourself in the incredible world of top darts.
