Presenter Jacqui Oatley has announced her departure from ITV Sport after a decade of work.
Oatley, 50, is one of the casualties as ITV will stop producing their own PDC darts coverage next year.
Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom company will take control of the broadcasting from next year, although some content will still be free-to-air on ITV4 and ITVX.
Oatley wrote on X: ‘Heading home for the final time from ITV Sport duty after a decade with a brilliant production team.
‘First three years were presenting football, including Euro 2016, World Cup 2018, with darts, darts, darts throughout.
‘Can’t express how grateful I am to have worked with such amazing people. The producers, led by Phil Heslop, are incredible, the directors, spotters, pundits, commentators, crew behind the camera, sound guys, graphics team, Jonesy (who tells me off for being an inch off my standing spot) – everyone.
‘Always smiling while working hard – most of all, they care about the output. Because that’s what it’s all about: the viewer’s experience.
‘We hope our genuine enjoyment came across. Back to football for me now but I’ll still be going to the darts. With pint in hand instead of a mic. Bye for now x.’
The European Championship Finals, Players Championship Finals, and World Masters are among the tournaments which will continue to air for free, even if Hearn’s company are in charge of the coverage.
There have not been any announcements regarding who will be involved in the coverage but Oatley’s statement suggests that she will not be.
Sky Sports has also renewed its deal for the World Championship, World Cup of Darts, Premier League, and Grand Slam among other tournaments for another five years.
Oatley joined ITV Sport in 2015 anchoring football shows on ITV4 and hosting coverage on the broadcaster’s main channel.
Before that, she had freelanced for them, presenting coverage of the FA Cup and Africa Cup of Nations.
In 2007, she became the first-ever female commentator on the BBC’s Match of the Day show. She has since opened up on the ‘isolating’ experience of her introduction as a female commentator being debated in the news nationwide.
Other duties have involved anchoring Fox Sports’ 2022 World Cup coverage and commentating for TNT Sports and BBC Radio 5 Live. She was given her MBE in 2016.
ITV is going in a different direction with the darts but Oatley’s experience will likely attract the interest of other broadcasters.
PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter said earlier this month: ‘We are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with ITV, with the new deal set to take our partnership beyond 20 years.
‘With more buzz around darts than ever before, we are pleased to be able to deliver free-to-air coverage of so many of our popular events to UK fans.’
Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: ‘We are pleased to expand and extend our live darts coverage here at ITV Sport, as we look to keep the biggest events in professional darts free-to-air for the UK audience to enjoy.
‘We have a great relationship with the Professional Darts Corporation and look forward to continuing our work with them into 2028.’
