Overview
Background
The 2025 European Championship is the 18th edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since the 2008 event. [1] Most editions of the tournament have been held in Germany, while it has also been hosted in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria. [2] The inaugural tournament in Frankfurt featured a 32-player field that consisted of the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit and various other qualifiers. [3] It was won by Phil Taylor, who defeated Adrian Lewis 11–5 in the final. [4] Taylor won the first four European Championships before his streak of titles was ended by Brendan Dolan at the 2012 edition; [5] [6] Simon Whitlock went on to win the tournament and claim his first PDC major title. [7] In 2016, the qualification system for the tournament was changed to be based solely on prize money won in European Tour events during the year. [8]
The 2025 edition will take place from 23 to 26 October 2025 at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, Germany. [9] German machinery company Machineseeker continued its sponsorship of the event, having extended its partnership with the PDC by three years in 2023. [10] Ritchie Edhouse is the defending champion after defeating Jermaine Wattimena 11–3 in the 2024 final to win his first PDC major title. [11]
Format
The 32-player field will be seeded based on the 2025 European Tour Order of Merit, a ranking comprising prize money won in European Tour events during the year. All matches are in leg play format, with the number of legs required to win increasing as the tournament progresses. [12]
- First round: Best of 11 legs
- Second round and quarter-finals: Best of 19 legs
- Semi-finals and final: Best of 21 legs
Prize money
The prize fund remained at £600,000, with £120,000 going to the winner. The prize fund breakdown is: [13]
| Position (num. of players) | Prize Money (Total: £600,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £120,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | £60,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £40,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £25,000 |
| Second round | (8) | £15,000 |
| First round | (16) | £7,500 |