To feel your shoes stick to the beer-encrusted floors of Alexandra Palace's West Hall, among the 1990s-era wrestlers and fresh takes on the subtleties of the 118-118 runners, is to be bound up in a sense of fleeting communion.
Played by the people, for the people, in 'the People's Palace', darts has long known what it is and who it's for. But as the lights fade and green Paddy Power pants are joylessly peeled from the floor by a phalanx of cleaners, the hands that decide the future of the sport are shaken in quiet backrooms.
Having effectively conquered the UK market, Basel, Bratislava and Bahrain have all been added to the calendar in recent years as the PDC looks for new markets in which to hawk its unique blend of sport and spectacle.
"The U.S. is such a big dark country in terms of participation," PDC chief executive Matthew Porter tells ESPN. "We've just conducted quite an extensive piece of research into that, looking at key states and cities where there are leagues and a lot of interest in the sport.
"So for us it's about how we can take people on that journey to get them into understanding that darts is also a professional sport with millions of pounds of prize money and big crowds and sold-out arenas."
The PDC's parent company, Matchroom, are serious about realising their American dream -- it's opened an office in the old Chase Manhattan building near Wall Street. But before two nights at Madison Square Garden, darts is heading to Saudi Arabia for the first time.
"The crowd will dictate how things go and I'm sure people can enjoy themselves even if the drink is a bit lighter than it might otherwise be," Porter says with a smile.
While the suits are stocking up the crowd, Luke Littler is more interested in the payout.
"I've not seen any money yet but I'm sure I won't be going over there for nothing," Littler, darts' golden ticket, has admitted.
The real question, though, is how January's tournament in Riyadh sits alongside alongside the PDC's push for greater gender equality in the game. Whether Beau Greaves uses her Tour Card to travel to Riyadh remains to be seen.
"Beau will probably win PDC tournaments next year, whether it's a ProTour or a European Tour," an exhausted Daryl Gurney told reporters after narrowly getting the better of Greaves in their world championship tussle. "I still believe she can win anything she enters. She's so good."
To do so, Greaves will not only have to get the better of the likes of Gurney, but probably also world No. 1 Littler. She may have done so before in the World Youth Championship semifinals in November, but to stand on the stage and deliver a killing blow in front of an audience of millions is an altogether different challenge. We just don't know yet if she's got it in her.
So a historic world championship triumph by a woman isn't on the cards anytime soon, then?
"Well, I don't think it's impossible," Greaves says, deftly navigating the need to nail her colours to the mast.
"It's just doing it consistently over a long format as well is probably something we're [women's players] going to have to get used to. So I think that kind of puts a stop on it a little bit. But you can never say never can you. We have to go into the competition believing or else, yeah, there's no point being there."
The prospect of Littler and Greaves battling for supremacy is a promoter's dream -- Porter admits "having two young people at the top of the game is perfect for any sport" -- but it would likely see 'The Nuke' having to navigate being cast as the villain for the first time in his career. Cheered onto the stage and booed when he gets there.
"I've never really thought about that to be honest," Littler says. "I'm just going to carry on playing my darts. I don't need to look at what people are saying."
In Littler and Greaves, a colourful supporting cast, a knock-off Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and a 2003 advert for a loan provider, darts might have everything it needs for world domination.
"Our aim is continued internationalisation, continued growth in terms of crowds, in terms of player payouts, in terms of media reach," states Porter.
"We just want to expand this sport and take it to the levels where say golf and tennis are as major international sports. We feel that they're the benchmarks for us to follow and the PDC is a much younger organisation than any of the organisations in those sports like the PGA or the ATP or whatever.
"We haven't got the benefit of history on our side, but it does also mean we've got the benefit of the future in front of us."
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