World Darts Championship chiefs confirm major changes including £1m jackpot
Luke Littler is the reigning World Darts Championship winner after his historic triumph over Michael van Gerwen just 17 to claim a £500,000 prize - and that money has now been bumped up to £1m for this year's competition
World Darts Championship chiefs have confirmed the format for their competition ahead of this year's tournament at Ally Pally, with the likes of Luke Littler having to win at least seven games to claim the new £1million prize.
Littler became the youngest winner of the championship in January as he became world champion aged 17 in a moment that catapulted him to super stardom in darts.
His 7-3 triumph over Michael van Gerwen saw him claim a £500,000 jackpot and now chiefs are preparing to upgrade their total prize fund to £5m for the first time due to the increasing popularity of the sport.
The newest edition of the tournament will also have more players than ever. There will be 128 taking part ahead of the start date in December, running until January 2026.
And chiefs are now preparing a format shift for darts' biggest competition, introducing a Wimbledon-style system with a seeded structure similar to the tennis Grand Slam.
The top 32 players in the world will be seeded, with those ranked below drawn at random against the 64 qualifiers.
The players in the top 40 from the PDC Order of Merit will qualify automatically, as will the top 40 non-qualified stars from the ProTour Order of Merit.
And with a significant increase in players taking part - going up from 96 in the 2024-25 event - the biggest stars like Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen will have to play even more matches to claim their grand prize of £1m.
PDC chief Matt Porter said the huge increase of the prize money summed up darts' status as one of the most exciting and popular sports in the world at present.
He said: "The £1 million prize for the World Champion reflects darts' standing as one of the most exciting and in-demand sports in the world and the historic total will rightly attract headlines as the biggest prize ever paid out in the sport.
"However, the increased prize funds announced today demonstrate our commitment to growing earning potential for players at all levels within the PDC system.
"The incredible growth of the PDC in recent years has seen darts elevated to levels never seen before both in terms of playing opportunities and global interest and this is a huge moment for all players with the ambition to make it to the very pinnacle of the sport."
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