answers: 16 defectors
context: Split in darts The split in darts refers to an acrimonious dispute between top professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), in 1993. The players were discontented by the game's big decline in television coverage in 1989 and the early 1990s, and by what they saw as the BDO's inability to reverse that decline, culminating in 16 top ranked players, including every previous world champion who was still active, breaking away from the BDO to form their own organisation, the World Darts Council (WDC). The BDO responded by banning the 16 defectors from all </s> 7 American darts players to play in the 1994 WDC World Darts Championship. The blanket BDO ban on the WDC led to a protracted four-year legal battle, which would incur large costs for both sides. The two bodies reached an out-of-court settlement on 30 June 1997 in the form of a Tomlin order. The BDO recognized the WDC and agreed that all players shall have the freedom of choice as to which open events they wish to play in. The WDC dropped its claim to be a world governing body and renamed itself the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The PDC </s> the world game. SBS6's contract to cover the event ran until 2008. UK viewing figures for World Championship final data provided by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board UK. BDO World Darts Championship The BDO World Darts Championship is a world championship competition in darts, organised by the British Darts Organisation (BDO). It began in 1978, and was, alongside the World Darts Federation's World Cup of Darts, one of two world championship tournaments until 1993. Since 1994, following a dispute with the BDO and the subsequent fallout, a breakaway group (originally known as the World Darts Council, and now known as
question: court battle between the bdo and what became the professional darts corporation