On 31 March 2025, the PDC announced a mass increase in prize money for tournaments, starting from the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship, where the champion receives a doubled top prize of £1,000,000 from a total prize fund of £5,000,000. The total amount of prize money on offer in PDC events in 2026 went up £7,000,000 from the 2025 season, along with increases for the PDC's secondary tours and Global Affiliate Tours, with only the World Series events and the World Masters not receiving increases in prize money.[1][2][3] The field for the World Championship also expanded from 96 to 128 players, while the Grand Slam of Darts will expand from 32 to 48 players.[4]
Prize money changes between the 2026 and 2025 PDC seasons (£1000s)[3][5]
↑The fifth-placed player will receive £95,000, the sixth-placed £90,000, the seventh-placed £85,000 and the eighth-placed £80,000.
↑The fifth-placed player received £75,000, the sixth-placed £70,000, the seventh-placed £65,000 and the eighth-placed £60,000.
12Awarded to the 16 teams that finish second in their three-team group, equivalent to the Top 32 the Grand Slam of Darts since four seeded nations receive byes to the round of 16.
12Awarded to the 16 teams that finish third in their three-team group, equivalent to the Top 32 the Grand Slam of Darts since four seeded nations receive byes to the round of 16.
↑In 2026, the Grand Slam of Darts will expand from 8 groups of 4 players to 16 groups of 3 players.
↑£8,000 and £5,000 were awarded to the third and fourth place finishers respectively in the group stage, which comprised the top 32.
↑The final of the World Youth Championship is televised during the Players Championship Finals
Changes to Q-School
On each day of the Final Stage of Q-School, a Tour Card is awarded to both finalists, rather than just to the day's tournament winner as in previous years. As before, remaining Tour Card places are awarded through the Q-School Order of Merit.[6] As before, players who qualify on the first three days of the Final Stage do not need to play the remaining days. However, each day of the Final Stage will be topped up to 128 players with the best available players who failed to qualify from the First Stage, rather than byes being awarded.[7]
Changes to qualification criteria for events
Several events had tweaks to their qualification criteria. European Tour seeding changed so that reserve players no longer take a seeded player's position in the draw. It was originally announced that seeding in first round matches would be based on the full Order of Merit rather than the Pro Tour Order of Merit, but this rule change was reverted before the first event.[6][8] Additionally, it was announced that players would be chosen for World Cup teams based on their Challenge Tour Ranking if a nation has no players ranked on the Order of Merit and no local Affiliate Tour.[6] Tour Card holders ranked inside the top 64 who failed to qualify for the World Championship by the main or Pro Tour Orders of Merit have been re-permitted to enter regional qualifying tournaments, while World Youth Championship finalists will qualify for the newly-expanded Grand Slam of Darts in the same year, rather than in the next.[6]
In December 2025, it was confirmed that the 2026 PDC World Championship would be the last edition of the tournament to be held in the West Hall of Alexandra Palace. The event will be held in the venue's Great Hall for the first time at the 2027 PDC World Championship.[16][17]
In December 2025, the PDC announced a three-year funding cycle for PDC Global Affiliate Tours that involved an investment of over £3,000,000.[20] There will be increased prize money for events on the Nordic and Baltic Pro Tour and the DartPlayers New Zealand Tour, while the China Pro Tour and Australian Darts Association Tour will have more events. Additionally, the African Continental Tour will expand to six events in each of the North and South regions, with an increase in the number of African qualifiers for the World Championship from one to two in 2027.[20][21]
Televised events
The following televised events are scheduled to take place in 2026.[22]
Ranked
The events listed in the table are ranked tournaments that contribute to a player's ranking on the PDC Order of Merit.[23]
The 2026 World Series of Darts is a series of invitational darts tournaments organised by the PDC, consisting of six events that will be held across four continents.[13]
Niko Springer, who also earned a Tour Card through the 2024 Development Tour, entered the top 64 in his first year on tour. Therefore, one extra Tour Card was awarded to a 2026 Q-School qualifier.
(16) The daily top two players from the 2026 Q-Schools.
Afterwards, the playing field was complemented by the highest qualified players from the Q-School Order of Merit until the maximum number of 128 Pro Tour Card players was reached.[27]
The 2026 PDC secondary tours are series of darts tournaments organised by the PDC that operate outside of the main PDC Pro Tour and predominantly feature players without a Tour Card. There are three secondary tours: the Challenge Tour (for players who unsuccessfully participated in the 2026 Q-School), Development Tour (for players aged 16 to 24) and Women's Series (for female players).
Global Affiliate Tours
The PDC Global Affiliate Tours are a series of regional darts competitions organised by the PDC in collaboration with various local darts organisations around the world.[33]
Asian Tour
The PDC Asian Tour is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from Asia. The 2026 calendar consists of 28 tournaments, with the first tournaments held in Dubai.[20][34]
No.
Date
Venue
Winner
Legs
Runner-up
Ref.
1
24 January
Le Méridien Hotel and Conference Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The Championship Darts Circuit (CDC) is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from North America. The 2026 calendar consists of 16 tournaments.[20]
Nordic & Baltic Tour
The PDC Nordic & Baltic (PDCNB) Tour is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states. The 2026 calendar was announced on 27 November 2025, consisting of 12 tour events held across six weekends, as well as qualifiers for European Tour events.[39][40]
The Dartplayers New Zealand (DPNZ) Pro Tour will consist of 12 events over six weekends as in 2025.[42] Prize money will increase with each event worth NZ$5,000.[20]
The PDC Europe Next Gen is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The 2026 season will form 16 events organised over eight weekends using five different event formats. In 2026, two new formats were introduced: 170, where each leg is played from 170 rather than 501, and Swiss, where the preliminary round will use a Swiss-style league phase.[43] Orders of Merit are maintained for all players, players aged 16–24 and women, with top-ranked players qualifying for the PDC Europe Super League and/or winning free entry to Q-School, Development Tour and Women's Series events.[44]
170 = Each leg is played from 170 rather than 501, DIDO = Double in/double out, FA Cup = Random draw every round, Master Out = Finish on a double or treble, Swiss = The preliminary stage uses a Swiss-system tournament akin to the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Notes
↑The tournament is held across 17 different venues, with the finals being played in The O2 Arena.
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