PDC stars hit New York ahead of Madison Square Garden return

Peter Wright & Michael van Gerwen (Madison Square Garden)

The biggest names in darts have been seeing the sights of New York ahead of the return of the bet365 US Darts Masters in The Theater at Madison Square Garden on June 2-3.

The Professional Darts Corporation's World Series of Darts visited the iconic New York venue for the first time last year, as Michael Smith defeated Michael van Gerwen to claim the title.

That duo will be part of a 16-player field competing this year, with eight top PDC players facing off against eight North American stars representing USA and Canada.

Following the arrival of the sport's top stars in New York, the pre-event build-up has seen stars taking part in media activity at Madison Square Garden and around the city.

? in The Big Apple ??

We're back at @TheGarden so Michael van Gerwen and Peter Wright had the opportunity to have a throw in front of the world famous venue!

? Get your tickets here ? https://t.co/1vgpA8UzHm pic.twitter.com/XtokuI837c
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 30, 2023

Van Gerwen was joined by Peter Wright throwing darts both on a crossing outside MSG as well as in the New York subway.

"It's always nice to be back - it's a huge city and darts is getting bigger and bigger over here," said Van Gerwen.

"It's good for darts globally and to be back here at Madison Square Garden is always nice."

Gerwyn Price and Dimitri Van den Bergh's visit to Bleacher Report included them taking on staff of the American sports website and also playing basketball.

S̶t̶e̶p̶h̶ ̶C̶u̶r̶r̶y̶ Dimitri Van den Bergh! ?

Dimi sinks eight consecutive free throws as he takes on Gerwyn Price at the @BleacherReport New York office! ? pic.twitter.com/sy9aqSO82v
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) May 30, 2023

Belgium's Van den Bergh, a former World Youth Champion and two-time winner on the World Series circuit, said: "It's my first visit to the US and I'm ecstatic.

"It's amazing. I've hungered for a long time to come here and it's really incredible to be here. It would be extraordinary for me to win this weekend."

Stars also took part in filming with sponsors bet365, which will be aired online in the coming days - while shots of the players seeing the sights of New York have been shared on their social media channels, including Wright and Price in Times Square.

Further media activity is planned across Wednesday and Thursday before the focus turns to the US Darts Masters' first round on Friday evening (1900).

Saturday's afternoon session (1300) sees eight US and Canadian stars face off in the bet365 North American Championship, before the evening session sees the US Darts Masters play down to a winner with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.

Tickets are available now through ticketmaster.com.

Michael van Gerwen (Madison Square Garden)