Overview
Background
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) was established under the World Darts Council name by the managers John Markovic, Tommy Cox and Dick Allix and the world's top 16 players in January 1992 as a separate body that broke away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO). [2] The inaugural edition of the PDC World Darts Championship was held from December 1993 to January 1994 at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex, England. It was won by Dennis Priestley, who defeated Phil Taylor in the final on 2 January 1994. [3] [4] Taylor would go on to win the tournament 14 times, adding to his BDO World Darts Championship wins in 1990 and 1992 for a record total of 16 world titles, including eight in a row from 1995 to 2002. [5] [6] The PDC World Championship is one of two world championships in the game of darts; the other being the WDF World Darts Championship, which was first held in 2022 as the successor to the BDO event. [4] [7]
The 2026 tournament will be held from 11 December 2025 to 3 January 2026 in London, England. [8] It is the 33rd edition of the event and the 19th to be held at Alexandra Palace, which first served as host venue at the 2008 World Championship. [9] Irish gambling company Paddy Power continued its sponsorship of the event, having agreed a three-year contract with the PDC ahead of the 2024 edition. [10] It will be the final PDC event for master of ceremonies John McDonald and referee George Noble, who are set to retire from darts following the tournament. [11]
A record-breaking total of 128 players will compete at the event. The expanded field was announced by the PDC in March 2025, allowing for an additional 32 players to qualify for the tournament from the previous total of 96. [12] A new qualification structure was introduced, including a minimum of four women guaranteed in the lineup. [13] Luke Littler will enter the tournament as defending champion, having defeated three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 7–3 in the 2025 final to win his first world title; he also became the youngest darts world champion in history at 17 years and 347 days old. [14] [15]
Format
Under the new format, all players – including the 32 seeds – enter the tournament in the first round, a change from previous years where seeds entered in the second round. The 32 seeds consist of the top 32 players on the PDC Order of Merit heading into the tournament. The seeded players, plus players ranked 33–64 drawn at random, will be placed on the left hand side of the draw and will be matched up against the remaining 64 qualifiers drawn at random. [13] [16]
All matches will consist of games of 501, where players are required to reduce their score from 501 to zero in order to win a leg, finishing on a double or the bullseye. The matches are played in set format, with the amount of sets required to win a match increasing as the tournament progresses. [17] All sets will be played to the best of five legs in the first round, and also in non-deciding sets of subsequent rounds. In the deciding set of all but the first round, the first player to win at least three legs and be leading by two or more will win the set and the match. If the set reaches a 5–5 tie without a winner, it will be decided by a sudden death leg. [18]
| Round | Best of (sets) | First to (sets) |
|---|---|---|
| First & second | 5 | 3 |
| Third & fourth | 7 | 4 |
| Quarter-finals | 9 | 5 |
| Semi-finals | 11 | 6 |
| Final | 13 | 7 |
Ranking
The PDC's main world ranking system, the PDC Order of Merit (known for sponsorship reasons as the Werner Rankings Ladder), [19] is calculated on a two-year cycle. Prize money won by players in ranking tournaments are removed from their ranking after 104 weeks, meaning players who participated in the 2024 World Championship, who did not lose their PDC Tour Card during the two-year period, will be 'defending' their prize money from that event. [20] At the end of the tournament, the prize money won at the 2026 tournament will be added and the prize money won at the 2024 tournament will be removed. [21] [22] After the tournament, the top 64 players in the PDC Order of Merit will receive a one-year extension on their Tour Card, joined by the players who earned two-year Tour Cards in 2025 who will enter their second year in 2026. [23] Players with two or more years on their Tour Card, who finish outside of the top 64, will lose their Tour Card and see their ranking reset to £0, along with all other players who earned prize money in ranking tournaments without holding a Tour Card. [21] [22]
Prize money
On 31 March 2025, the PDC announced the biggest prize money increase in the organisation's history, starting from the 2026 season onward. Coinciding with the expansion of the field to 128 players, the World Championship's total prize money increased to £5,000,000, with the winner's share doubling from £500,000 to £1,000,000; this was the first time the tournament's prize money increased since the 2019 edition. [12] [24] The winner will also receive the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the darts commentator who died in 2012. [25] The prize money breakdown is shown below: [26]
| Position (no. of players) | Prize money (Total: £5,000,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £1,000,000 |
| Runner-up | (1) | £400,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £200,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £100,000 |
| Fourth round losers | (8) | £60,000 |
| Third round losers | (16) | £35,000 |
| Second round losers | (32) | £25,000 |
| First round losers | (64) | £15,000 |
