Latest news with #PDCWorldDartsChampionships
Scottish Sun
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
‘It's a business' – Darts icon backs plan to move World Championship from Alexandra Palace and hand £2MILLION to winner
The Saudis have already tried to snap up the tournament DARTING AWAY 'It's a business' – Darts icon backs plan to move World Championship from Alexandra Palace and hand £2MILLION to winner Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A Darts icon has backed a proposed venue change for the PDC World Darts Championships. Alexandra Palace has been the tournament's home since its 2008 move from the Circus Tavern in Essex. 4 Alexandra Palace has been the home of the World Darts Championship since 2008 Credit: AFP 4 There has been talk that the tournament could leave the hallowed walls of Ally Pally Credit: PA 4 Iconic referee Russ Bray believes a change of venue could make sense Credit: GETTY But the iconic venue's future hosting the annual competition is in doubt as Saudi Arabia has been mooted as a potential new location for the tournament. And retired referee Russ Bray believes a change of venue could make sense given the recent growth of the sport and the potential increase of prize money. During an appearance on talkSPORT, he said: "The PDC's [Professional Darts Corporation] a business, like you say, it is a business. "Barry and Eddie [Hearn, respective chairman and ex-chairman] and Matt [Porter, CEO of PDC], these guys, they'll sit down and talk. READ MORE DARTS NEWS Pint Sized Premier League Darts blasted after 'absolute joke' of Leeds pint prices revealed "Obviously, if they can pay the players £2million for winning the World Final because we've got to go somewhere else, then I'm pretty certain that's what they will do. It makes sense." Matchroom supremo Barry Hearn has already been approached by the Saudis about bringing the competition to The Kingdom. But he knocked them back after they informed him fans wouldn't be able to drink alcohol at events. The 76-year-old said: "The Saudis asked me for [the] darts about a couple of months ago. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler "I asked them a simple question. 'Can we have alcohol?' "And they said no. I said, 'Well then you can't have the darts.'" Luke Littler taunts fans with 'crying' gesture after Man Utd fan suffers abuse at Premier League Darts in Leeds Hearn, however, does believe The Kingdom could make a good home for the World Snooker Championships. The veteran promoter has recently threatened to take the competition away from the Crucible unless the iconic venue is given a major revamp. When asked if snooker's biggest tournament will stay put, Hearn told Radio Snooker with Nick Metcalfe: "I hope so but we've got to live in the real world. "So much of professional sport is about money. "And as much as we want to stay here desperately, it's got to be something that fits into the overall picture of where the game is going. "This is a huge game. We mustn't be parochial in our attitude. "As long as everyone understands that and comes to the party in a reasonable and respectful way, I'm hopeful we can stay here. "We must know by the end of the year. The clock is ticking."
The Irish Sun
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘It's a business' – Darts icon backs plan to move World Championship from Alexandra Palace and hand £2MILLION to winner
A Darts icon has backed a proposed venue change for the PDC World Darts Championships. Alexandra Palace has been the tournament's home since its 2008 move from the Circus Tavern in Essex . 4 Alexandra Palace has been the home of the World Darts Championship since 2008 Credit: AFP 4 There has been talk that the tournament could leave the hallowed walls of Ally Pally Credit: PA 4 Iconic referee Russ Bray believes a change of venue could make sense Credit: GETTY But the iconic venue's future hosting the annual competition is in doubt as And retired referee Russ Bray believes a change of venue could make sense given the recent growth of the sport and the potential increase of prize money. During an appearance on business , like you say, it is a business. "Barry and Eddie [Hearn, respective chairman and ex-chairman] and Matt [Porter, CEO of PDC], these guys, they'll sit down and talk. READ MORE DARTS NEWS "Obviously, if they can pay the players £2million for winning the World Final because we've got to go somewhere else, then I'm pretty certain that's what they will do. It makes sense." Matchroom supremo Barry Hearn has already been approached by the Saudis about bringing the competition to The Kingdom. But he knocked them back after they informed him fans wouldn't be able to drink alcohol at events. The 76-year-old said: "The Saudis asked me for [the] darts about a couple of months ago. Most read in Darts JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler "I asked them a simple question. 'Can we have alcohol?' "And they said no. I said, 'Well then you can't have the darts.'" Luke Littler taunts fans with 'crying' gesture after Man Utd fan suffers abuse at Premier League Darts in Leeds Hearn, however, does believe The Kingdom could make a good home for the World Snooker Championships. The veteran promoter has recently threatened to take the competition away from the Crucible unless the iconic venue is given a major revamp. When asked if snooker's biggest tournament will stay put, Hearn told "So much of professional sport is about money . "And as much as we want to stay here desperately, it's got to be something that fits into the overall picture of where the game is going. "This is a huge game. We mustn't be parochial in our attitude. "As long as everyone understands that and comes to the party in a reasonable and respectful way, I'm hopeful we can stay here. "We must know by the end of the year. The clock is ticking." 4 Saudi chiefs have approached Barry Hearn about bringing the World Darts Championship to The Kingdom Credit: REX
