PDC World Darts Championship 2027 — Schedule, Prize Money, Tickets & Everything You Need to Know
The biggest event in darts is back at Alexandra Palace. 128 players, £5 million in prize money, and Luke Littler defending the title he won last year. Here's everything you need to know about the 2026/27 Paddy Power World Darts Championship.
- Tournament Overview
- Schedule & Dates
- Format & Match Structure
- Prize Money Breakdown
- Tickets
- Defending Champion — Luke Littler
- Last Year's Tournament — 2026 Results
- How Players Qualify
- International Qualifiers
- The Venue — Alexandra Palace
- Tournament History
- Phil Taylor's Record — 14 World Titles
- All PDC World Champions
- Frequently Asked Questions
Tournament Overview
The PDC World Darts Championship is the biggest, most prestigious event in professional darts. Held every year over the Christmas and New Year period at Alexandra Palace in London, it's the one tournament every player wants to win and every fan wants to be at.
The 2026/27 edition will be the 34th World Championship organised by the PDC and the 20th to be held at Ally Pally, which has been the tournament's home since 2008. For the first time, the event moves from the West Hall to the venue's Great Hall — the same hall that hosted the legendary News of the World Darts Championship between 1963 and 1976.
A total of 128 players from around the world will compete for a share of £5,000,000 in total prize money, with the winner lifting the iconic Sid Waddell Trophy and taking home a cheque for £1,000,000.
Luke Littler is the defending champion, having beaten Gian van Veen 7–1 in the 2026 final to claim his second world title. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power continues as title sponsor, having renewed their deal until 2031.
World Darts Championship 2027 Schedule & Dates
The tournament runs from 10 December 2026 to 3 January 2027. The detailed session-by-session schedule hasn't been released yet by the PDC — we'll update this section as soon as it's confirmed.
The full day-by-day schedule, draw, and session times will be added to this page as soon as the PDC confirms them. Bookmark this page so you don't miss it.
Based on previous years, here's roughly what to expect:
- 10–23 December: First, second and third round matches
- 27–28 December: Fourth round
- 29–30 December: Quarter-finals
- 1 January 2027: Semi-finals
- 3 January 2027: Final
There's typically a break on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, with the action resuming on the 27th. Sessions are split into afternoon and evening, with evening sessions being the big ticket — that's when the atmosphere really kicks off.
Format & Match Structure
All 128 players enter the tournament in the first round — including the 32 seeds. This is a change from the older format where top seeds got a bye into the second round. Now everyone starts on equal footing from day one.
Matches are played in set format, with the number of sets increasing as the tournament progresses. Each non-deciding set is played to the best of five legs. If a deciding set reaches 2–2 in legs, a tie-break kicks in where the first player to lead by two clear legs wins the set. If the deciding set reaches 5–5, it comes down to a sudden-death leg.
| Round | Best of (Sets) | First to (Sets) |
|---|---|---|
| First Round | 5 | 3 |
| Second Round | 5 | 3 |
| Third Round | 7 | 4 |
| Fourth Round | 7 | 4 |
| Quarter-Finals | 9 | 5 |
| Semi-Finals | 11 | 6 |
| Final | 13 | 7 |
The seeded players (ranked 1–32) and players ranked 33–64 are drawn at random into the left-hand side of the draw against the remaining 64 qualifiers. This means you can potentially get a blockbuster first-round match-up between a big name and a qualifier.
World Darts Championship Prize Money Breakdown
In March 2025, the PDC announced the biggest prize money increase in the organisation's history. The total prize fund jumped to £5,000,000, with the winner's share doubling from £500,000 to £1,000,000 — the first increase since the 2019 edition.
The winner also receives the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the legendary darts commentator who passed away in 2012.
| Position | Players | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Nine-Dart Finish | — | £60,000 |
Total Prize Fund: £5,000,000
Tournament sponsor Paddy Power pledged that for every nine-dart finish hit during the tournament, they'd award £60,000 — split between the player, a random fan, and Prostate Cancer UK. A brilliant touch that adds extra excitement to every 180 start.
World Darts Championship Tickets
Tickets for the 2026/27 World Darts Championship haven't gone on sale yet. Based on previous years, they're usually released in the autumn — and they sell out fast, especially for the later rounds and the final.
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Tips for Getting Tickets
- Sign up to the PDC mailing list too — they sometimes announce ticket sales there first
- Semi-finals and final sell out in minutes — set an alarm for the on-sale date
- Earlier rounds are easier to get — and honestly, the atmosphere is still brilliant
- Evening sessions are louder — if you want the full fancy dress, beer-throwing Ally Pally experience, go for an evening session
- Afternoon sessions are more relaxed — better if you're taking kids or prefer to actually watch the darts
Defending Champion — Luke Littler
Luke Littler — 2026 PDC World Champion
Luke Littler heads into the 2027 World Championship as the defending champion after a sensational 2026 campaign. "The Nuke" demolished Gian van Veen 7–1 in the final to win his second world title — and he's still only a teenager.
Littler's rise has been nothing short of extraordinary. He burst onto the scene at the 2024 World Championship as a 16-year-old qualifier, reaching the final against Luke Humphries. He won his first world title in 2025, and successfully defended it in 2026 with a tournament performance that left the rest of the field looking on in disbelief.
He's currently the number one ranked player in the world on the PDC Order of Merit, and the overwhelming favourite to make it three world titles in a row at Ally Pally.
Last Year's Tournament — 2026 World Championship Results
The 2026 World Championship was the first to feature the expanded 128-player field and the massive £5 million prize fund. It didn't disappoint. Here's how the final stages played out:
The Final
Gian van Veen — 2026 World Championship Finalist
Semi-Finals
| Match | Result |
|---|---|
| Luke Littler vs Ryan Searle | 6-1 |
| Gian van Veen vs Gary Anderson | 6-3 |
Gary Anderson — 2026 Semi-Finalist
Ryan Searle — 2026 Semi-Finalist
How Players Qualify for the World Championship
The 128-player field is made up of three qualification routes:
Top 40 from the PDC World Rankings (Werner Rankings Ladder)
The top 40 players on the two-year PDC World Rankings after the 2026 Players Championship Finals qualify automatically. These are the biggest names in the sport — your Littlers, van Gerwens, Humphries, Prices. If you're in the top 40, you're in. No questions asked.
Top 40 from the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit
The next 40 spots go to the highest-ranked players on the one-year Pro Tour Order of Merit who haven't already qualified through the World Rankings. This gives players who've had a strong recent year a shot at the big stage even if their two-year ranking isn't high enough.
48 International Qualifiers
The remaining 48 places go to players from around the world through various qualifying routes — development tours, international tours, women's qualifiers, and for the first time ever, two guaranteed spots for African players. More on this below.
Check the current PDC Order of Merit to see who's in line to qualify.
International Qualifiers — Full Breakdown
This is where it gets interesting. The World Championship isn't just a UK thing anymore — players from every continent can earn a spot at Ally Pally. Here's the full breakdown of the 48 international qualification routes:
🌍 Africa (First Time Ever)
For the first time in the tournament's history, two guaranteed spots have been awarded to African players through the African Darts Group. This follows Kenyan trailblazer David Munyua's appearance at Alexandra Palace, which showed the PDC that the sport is growing on the continent.
- Northern Africa Qualifier — 1 spot
- Southern Africa Qualifier — 1 spot
🌏 Asia & Oceania
- PDC Asian Tour — 5 spots (highest-ranked players)
- PDC Asian Championship — 2 spots (finalists)
- PDC China Championship Winner — 1 spot
- IDC Indian Qualifier — 1 spot
- Japanese Qualifier — 1 spot
- ANZ Premier League Winner — 1 spot
- ADA Australian Tour Winner — 1 spot
- DPNZ Pro Tour Winner — 1 spot
- TBC — Aus/NZ Qualifier — 1 spot
🌎 Americas
- CDC Continental Cup Winner — 1 spot
- CDC Cross-Border Challenge Winner — 1 spot
- North American Championship Winner — 1 spot
- CDC Top Ranked American — 1 spot
- CDC Top Ranked Canadian — 1 spot
- CDLC Qualifier — 1 spot
🇪🇺 Europe
- PDCE Netherlands & Belgium Qualifier — 1 spot
- PDCE Mediterranean Qualifier — 1 spot
- PDCE South-East Europe Qualifier — 1 spot
- PDCE Czechia Qualifier — 1 spot
- PDO Polish Qualifier — 1 spot
- PDCE DACH Super League Winner — 1 spot
- Hungarian Super League Winner — 1 spot
- PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship Winner — 1 spot
- PDCNB ProTour Winner — 1 spot
- PDCNB ProTour Runner-Up — 1 spot
🎯 Development & Women's
- PDC World Youth Champion — 1 spot
- PDC Development Tour — 3 spots (top 3 ranked)
- PDC Challenge Tour — 3 spots (top 3 ranked)
- PDC Women's World Matchplay Winner — 1 spot
- PDC Women's Series — 3 spots (top 3 ranked)
📋 Other
- PDC UK & Ireland Tour Card Holder Qualifier — 2 spots minimum
- Two further qualification spots yet to be announced by the PDC
As of June 2026, David Cameron has qualified through the CDC Cross-Border Challenge and Adam Sevada won the PDC North American Championship. We'll update this section as more qualifiers are confirmed throughout the year.
The Venue — Alexandra Palace
The Ally Pally crowd — nothing else in sport quite like it
If you've never been to Ally Pally for the darts, it's hard to explain just how good the atmosphere is. Thousands of fans in fancy dress, chanting, singing, creating a wall of noise that players say is the most intense in the sport. It's part sporting event, part festival, part absolute chaos. And it's brilliant.
Alexandra Palace has been the home of the PDC World Championship since 2008, taking over from the Circus Tavern in Purfleet where the event was held from 1994 to 2007. The 2027 tournament will be the 20th at the venue — but the first to be held in the Great Hall rather than the West Hall.
The Great Hall is historically significant in its own right. It hosted the News of the World Darts Championship from 1963 to 1976, one of the most prestigious darts events of its era. So in a way, darts is coming home to where it's been before.
Tournament History
The PDC World Darts Championship grew out of the split in professional darts in the early 1990s. In January 1992, the world's top 16 players, along with managers John Markovic, Tommy Cox and Dick Allix, broke away from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form the World Darts Council — which would later become the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
The first PDC World Championship was held from December 1993 to January 1994 at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex. Dennis Priestley won the inaugural event, beating Phil Taylor in the final on 2 January 1994.
Taylor would go on to turn that defeat into fuel for one of the most dominant careers in sporting history — but more on that in a moment.
The PDC World Championship is one of two world championships in darts. The other is the WDF World Darts Championship, first held in 2022 as the successor to the BDO event. But there's no question which one is the bigger deal — the PDC Worlds at Ally Pally is the one every player dreams of winning.
Phil Taylor's Record — 14 PDC World Titles
Phil "The Power" Taylor — the most successful darts player in history
You can't talk about the World Championship without talking about Phil "The Power" Taylor. His record in this tournament is staggering and will probably never be beaten.
Taylor won the PDC World Championship 14 times. Add his two BDO World Championship wins in 1990 and 1992, and that's 16 world titles in total. Nobody else has more than three.
His run of eight consecutive world titles from 1995 to 2002 is one of the most dominant stretches in the history of any sport. During that period, he didn't just win — he often obliterated opponents. Three of those finals ended 7–0.
Phil Taylor's 14 PDC World Championship Wins
| Year | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Rod Harrington | 6–2 |
| 1996 | Dennis Priestley | 6–4 |
| 1997 | Dennis Priestley | 6–3 |
| 1998 | Dennis Priestley | 6–0 |
| 1999 | Peter Manley | 6–2 |
| 2000 | Dennis Priestley | 7–3 |
| 2001 | John Part | 7–0 |
| 2002 | Peter Manley | 7–0 |
| 2004 | Kevin Painter | 7–6 |
| 2005 | Mark Dudbridge | 7–4 |
| 2006 | Peter Manley | 7–0 |
| 2009 | Raymond van Barneveld | 7–1 |
| 2010 | Simon Whitlock | 7–3 |
| 2013 | Michael van Gerwen | 7–4 |
Poor Peter Manley lost three finals to Taylor, all three of them 7–0. Dennis Priestley lost four finals to Taylor but at least managed to take some sets off him.
Taylor retired from professional darts after the 2018 World Championship. His record of 14 PDC world titles is one that Luke Littler — currently on two — would need to win 12 more times to match. At his current rate, don't rule it out.
All PDC World Darts Champions
Here's every winner of the PDC World Darts Championship since the inaugural event in 1994:
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Dennis Priestley | Phil Taylor | 6–1 |
| 1995 | Phil Taylor | Rod Harrington | 6–2 |
| 1996 | Phil Taylor | Dennis Priestley | 6–4 |
| 1997 | Phil Taylor | Dennis Priestley | 6–3 |
| 1998 | Phil Taylor | Dennis Priestley | 6–0 |
| 1999 | Phil Taylor | Peter Manley | 6–2 |
| 2000 | Phil Taylor | Dennis Priestley | 7–3 |
| 2001 | Phil Taylor | John Part | 7–0 |
| 2002 | Phil Taylor | Peter Manley | 7–0 |
| 2003 | John Part | Phil Taylor | 7–6 |
| 2004 | Phil Taylor | Kevin Painter | 7–6 |
| 2005 | Phil Taylor | Mark Dudbridge | 7–4 |
| 2006 | Phil Taylor | Peter Manley | 7–0 |
| 2007 | Raymond van Barneveld | Phil Taylor | 7–6 |
| 2008 | John Part | Kirk Shepherd | 7–2 |
| 2009 | Phil Taylor | Raymond van Barneveld | 7–1 |
| 2010 | Phil Taylor | Simon Whitlock | 7–3 |
| 2011 | Adrian Lewis | Gary Anderson | 7–5 |
| 2012 | Adrian Lewis | Andy Hamilton | 7–3 |
| 2013 | Phil Taylor | Michael van Gerwen | 7–4 |
| 2014 | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 7–4 |
| 2015 | Gary Anderson | Phil Taylor | 7–6 |
| 2016 | Gary Anderson | Adrian Lewis | 7–5 |
| 2017 | Michael van Gerwen | Gary Anderson | 7–3 |
| 2018 | Rob Cross | Phil Taylor | 7–2 |
| 2019 | Michael van Gerwen | Michael Smith | 7–3 |
| 2020 | Peter Wright | Michael van Gerwen | 7–3 |
| 2021 | Gerwyn Price | Gary Anderson | 7–3 |
| 2022 | Peter Wright | Michael Smith | 7–5 |
| 2023 | Michael Smith | Michael van Gerwen | 7–4 |
| 2024 | Luke Humphries | Luke Littler | 7–4 |
| 2025 | Luke Littler | Michael van Gerwen | 7–3 |
| 2026 | Luke Littler | Gian van Veen | 7–1 |
Phil Taylor — 14 · Michael van Gerwen — 3 · Luke Littler — 2 · Gary Anderson — 2 · Peter Wright — 2 · Adrian Lewis — 2 · John Part — 2 · All others — 1
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the World Darts Championship 2027 start?
The tournament runs from 10 December 2026 to 3 January 2027 at Alexandra Palace in London. The detailed session-by-session schedule will be confirmed by the PDC closer to the event.
What is the prize money for the World Darts Championship?
The total prize fund is £5,000,000. The winner takes home £1,000,000, the runner-up gets £400,000, semi-finalists receive £200,000 each, and quarter-finalists get £100,000 each. Even first-round losers walk away with £15,000.
Where is the World Darts Championship held?
Alexandra Palace in London, commonly known as Ally Pally. The 2027 tournament will be the first held in the venue's Great Hall, after 19 years in the West Hall. The venue has hosted the event since 2008.
How can I buy tickets for the World Darts Championship?
Tickets haven't gone on sale yet for the 2026/27 tournament. They're expected to be released later in 2026. Bookmark this page — we'll add a direct ticket link as soon as they're available.
Who is the defending World Darts Champion?
Luke Littler is the defending champion. He beat Gian van Veen 7–1 in the 2026 final to win his second world title. He's the current world number one and the favourite to win again.
How many players compete in the World Darts Championship?
128 players compete in the tournament. The top 40 from the PDC World Rankings qualify automatically, the next 40 from the Pro Tour Order of Merit also qualify, and the remaining 48 spots go to international qualifiers from around the world.
What is the format of the World Darts Championship?
Matches are played in set format. First and second rounds are best of 5 sets, third and fourth rounds best of 7, quarter-finals best of 9, semi-finals best of 11, and the final is best of 13 sets. All 128 players enter in the first round, including the 32 seeds.
Who has won the most World Darts Championships?
Phil Taylor holds the record with 14 PDC World Championship titles (1995–2013), plus 2 BDO titles for 16 world titles in total. Michael van Gerwen is second with 3 PDC world titles.
What is the World Darts Championship schedule?
The tournament runs from 10 December 2026 to 3 January 2027. The first three rounds take place before Christmas, with a break on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. The fourth round, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place between 27 December and 3 January. The full session schedule will be confirmed by the PDC later in 2026.
What darts board is used at the World Championship?
The Winmau Blade X is the official dartboard used at PDC Major events including the World Championship. It's the top-of-the-range board from Winmau with the thinnest wiring ever produced. You can read our full review in our best dart boards guide.
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