Complete Darts World Championships Guide
In my complete Darts World Championships guide I have compiled a fact file of all you need to know. I will keep you up to date of any/all the changes and additions to the premier darts event should they occur. Global expansion and the very first darts millionaire maker tournament, just two of the things to whet the appetite of every darts player and fan!
When and where is it held?
12 months of professional darts culminates in the World Championships taking place at the Alexandra Palace in London England. Starting in the middle of December and crowning the champion in early January the world championships have become a popular venue for corporate Christmas parties and Yuletide fun for many fans. Christmas fancy dress isn’t just restricted to those in the crowd, Peter Wright always turns up to his first match in festive getups and many players change their match shirts to compliment the season.
Venue: Alexandra Palace, London
Dates: TBC
Prize money at the World Championships darts
The 2025/26 edition will see the world champion receive the first ever 1 million pound prize in darts to go with the covetted Sid Wadell trophy. The winners cheque and the total prizefund of 5m pounds shows the huge growth the sport has seen is recent years.
Full prize fund breakdown:
Winner: £1,000,000
Runner-Up: £400,000
Semi-Finalists: £200,000
Quarter-Finalists: £100,000
Last 16 losers: £60,000
Last 32 losers: £35,000
Last 64 losers: £25,000
Last 128 losers: £15,000
Total: £5,000,000
To put the growth of the sport commercially into perspective, the 5m pounds on offer is double the amount which has been played for in each of the championships since 2019. Previous winners Michael Smith (2023), Luke Humphries (2024) and 2025 champ Luke Littler will be among the players gunning for the check worth double the amount they collected.
Who will be in the Darts World Championships?
Alongside a huge increase in prize money as I mention above, the world championship will be contested by 128 players from around the world. In recent years 96 players have lined up for their shot at glory and the expansion to 128 sees the true globalisation of darts. The qualifcation criteria are as follows:
Top 40 players from PDC Order of Merit (increased from 32 in previous years)
Top 40 from ProTour Order of Merit not otherwise qualified (increased from 32 in previous years)
48x International Qualifiers quantified as follows:
Invited in the following order
PDC World Youth Champion
PDC Development Tour Winner
PDC Development Tour Runner-Up
PDC Development Tour Third Place
PDC Challenge Tour Runner-Up
PDC Challenge Tour Third Place
PDC Women’s World Matchplay Winner
PDC Women’s Series Winner
PDC Women’s Series Runner-Up
PDC Women’s Series Third Place
Steel Darts Japan Tour Winner
PDC China Championship Winner
IDC Indian Qualifier
PDC Asian Championship Winner
PDC Asian Championship Runner-Up
PDC Asian Tour Winner
PDC Asian Tour Runner-Up
PDC Asian Tour Third Place
PDC Asian Tour Fourth Place
PDC Asian Tour Fifth Place
PDCE Netherlands & Belgium Qualifier
PDCE Mediterranean Qualifier
PDCE South-East Europe Qualifier
PDCE Czechia Qualifier
PDO Polish Qualifier
PDCE DACH Super League Winner
Hungarian Super League Winner
PDC UK&IRE Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier
PDC North American Championship Winner
CDC Continental Cup Winner
CDC Cross-Border Challenge Winner
CDC Top Ranked American
CDC Top Ranked Canadian
CDLC Qualifier
PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship Winner
PDCNB ProTour Winner
PDCNB ProTour Runner-Up
ANZ Premier League Winner
ADA Australian Tour Winner
DPA ProTour Winner
DPNZ ProTour Winner
African Darts Group Qualifier
PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 1
PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 2
PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 3
PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier 4
One Place TBC
Since the very first PDC World Championship in 1994, there have only been 13 different winners of the title with Phil Taylor (14), Michael van Gerwen (3), John Part, Gary Anderson, Adrian Lewis and Peter Wright (all 2) having taken multiple titles. With only 3 winners in the past coming from outside of the UK (Part, van Barneveld and van Gerwen) will the increased field mean we see another international winner in the coming years?
Who plays who in the darts?
Another big change to the worlds is the fact that all of the stars of darts now play in round one. Previously the 32 top ranked players from the Werner darts rankings ladder entered the tournament in the second round and as such received a protected status. This change will see some interesting match ups and has the potential for shocks as the international qualifiers take on the big guns.
Draw for the tournament:
First Round
Top 32 from PDC Order of Merit seeded in standard seed pattern. In this system the number 1 in the world is drawn in the top left of the bracket the number 2 drawn in the bottom left. The bracket and seed structure ensure that the best player in the world(by ranking) cannot face the second best (by ranking) until the final.
Players 33-64 from PDC Order of Merit are drawn at random to the left hand side of the draw.
Remaining 64 players drawn at random
Second round onward follows the bracket structure with the enitre tournament played as a straight knock out.
The entire event is played as 501 and in sets format with 3 legs required to win a set.
Where can I watch the darts?
With the expansion of the field I am sure we will see an expansion of the countries and territories where the darts is broadcast. As promissed I will add to this complete darts world championships guide if changes or additions are required but the current broadcast partners of the PDC are:
UK and Ire: World Darts Championship is live on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel.
Netherlands, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Bulgaria & Baltic States – Viaplay
Germany, Austria, Switzerland- DAZN
Germany- Sport1
Australia- Fox Sports
New Zealand- Sky
Czech Republic & Slovakia -Nova
Hungary- Prago Sport
Belgium- VTM