MAD have unveiled their plans to transform grass roots darts with the announcement of four show-piece events, plus world title ‘belts’ and a regional system.

Fronted by PDC professional and JDC Chairman Steve Brown, MAD (Modern Amateur Darts) will provide a platform for all non-professional players across the UK and Europe.

The ‘show-piece’ events are comprised of: the National League Championships, the British Amateur Open Finals, the Golden Gauntlet and the Champion of Champions.

In addition, players will also be given the opportunity to compete for world title belts in a similar model used in combat sports such as boxing and MMA.

The titles up for grabs include: Super Regional, National, Continental and World, with both men’s and women’s championships taking place.

The four divisions will work on a pyramid system, with Super Regional titles due to be defended every four weeks and all other titles every five weeks.

Any player can place a bid for a title challenge, with champions earning prize money with each successful title defence.

MAD will initially crown honorary European and World Champions – who will be awarded with a title belt to represent their status and achievement.

MAD show-piece events explained

MAD National League Championships

The National League Championships are the culmination of the year’s league play.

The finals consist of the 16 Super Regional teams competing in a seeded, four-group round-robin, followed by a knock-out phase.

Each Super Regional team is made up of the 24 best performers from the three previous quarterly Super Regional Championships.

The event will be open to any MAD member and will carry a £10,000 prize fund.

MAD British Amateur Open Finals

64 qualifiers will face off in a 16-group round-robin, followed by a knock-out.

Finalists must qualify at regional level, then again at Super Regional level.

The event is open to any MAD member and will carry a £30,000 prize fund, with £10,000 to the winner and prize money paid out to all 64 players.

MAD Golden Gauntlet

The Golden Gauntlet will consist of 30 players: the 16 Super Regional champions, the three National Champions, the European Champion, World Champion five MAD icons and four wildcards.

The event will be a random draw, quick-fire format which sees the winner stay on.

It will begin with two players competing and a new entrant joining immediately once a match has been completed.

The winner will receive £10,000 – which could be achieved by winning just one game.

MAD Champion of Champions

This ‘News of the World’ style event will feature 256 players, with one qualifier from each MAD region.

It will incorporate a best of three legs format from start to finish throughout both the qualifiers and finals.

The event, which carries a £30,000 prize fund, is open to all MAD members and will feature a random draw.

MAD title system explained

• The four divisions are: Super Regional, National, Continental and World.
• Each of the 16 Super Regions across England, Scotland and Wales will crown an inaugural champion.
• England, Scotland and Wales will each crown an inaugural National Champion. MAD will initially determine these champions via the WDF rankings.
• MAD will initially crown an honorary European Champion and World Champion.
• All champions will be awarded a Championship title belt.
• Champions will be required to defend their titles regularly, with financial incentives in place for defending champions.
• Title defences will take place at a venue of the challenger’s choice.
• Challengers will submit a financial bid to MAD no later than seven days after the last title defence, and the champion has 24 hours to decide which bid to accept.
• The bid will include the champion’s purse (which forms 70% of the total bid), MAD fees and media promotion fees.
• Champions can earn guaranteed prize money by remaining the champion through successful title defences.

The minimum bids for each title are as follows:

£500 for a Super Regional title match
£1,000 for a National title match
£1,500 for a Continental title match
£2,000 for a World title match