The American Darts Organization (A.D.O.)

What is the A.D.O.?

The American Darts Organization is a national governing body that promotes and organizes darts throughout the United States. The ADO has established standards for rules of play at both the local league level and in tournament play. They organize and run playoff programs which allow players to represent the U.S. at the National and International level. They also have an extensive Youth Program to teach the kids about the sport of darts and have a playoff program for the Youths so they may win scholarship money and trips to play in National and International competitions.

Here are some of the many things the ADO has to offer:

  • Annual National Tournament calendar
  • Quarterly newsletter (Double Eagle)
  • Tournament sanctioning requirements and procedures
  • National and Regional championship point system
  • National Singles Championship for 501 and Cricket
  • National All-Star team
  • Youth program and scholarship fund

Where does the M.V.D.O. fit in?

The M.V.D.O. is a charter member of the ADO joining with the ADO's inception in 1976. For the ADO the US is broken into "Areas". The M.V.D.O. is located in Area 6 which also includes Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Each Area has a manager. The Manager for Area 6 is Steve Brown who is located right here in St. Louis.

Each area is then broken down into regions. The M.V.D.O. is located in region 6-2 which includes the St. Louis metropolitan area (including Southern Illinois), Jefferson City, Columbia, Kansas City and Cedar Rapids, IA. Each region has a director. The 6-2 Regional director is Dave Madison from the M.V.D.O.

How did the ADO come about?

In 1975, there was no network of dart organizations. But there were hotbeds of activity - in Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and Virginia. Tom Fleetwood of Bellflower, CA and Ed McDevitt of Philadelphia had tossed around the idea of a national organization and decided it was time to act. An invitation was sent to known organizations to attend an informal meeting to discuss the formation of the American Darts Organization. That meeting held in conjunction with the Michigan Open dart tournament in Detroit in October, laid the foundation for the ADO.

The ADO began operation January 1, 1976 with 30 charter member clubs and a membership of 7,500. Today the ADO has a membership that averages 250 clubs on a yearly basis representing roughly 50,000 members.

National Web Site

www.adodarts.com

ADO Fun facts

The ADO did a survey with a wide range of its members and here is what they discovered:

  • Average member age - 38
  • Average member income - $56,000 per year
  • Respondants attend an average of 9 tournaments a year
  • Respondants eat out 2.7 times a week
  • Other interests - golf, fishing, arts and crafts, gardening, reading and photography
  • Favorite network - ESPN 66%
  • Dartboard of choice - NODOR (29%), Accudart(26%), Winmau(23%)
  • 88% have internet access
  • 82% consume alcohol
  • Of the 82% that drink - 75% drink beer
  • Vehicles of choice - Ford (24%), Chevy (22%), Dodge (15%)