PDC reveals Luke Littler effect on darts with ‘unprecedented’ prize money for 2026
An increase of £7m will take effect next year with the World Darts Championship now worth a £1m for the winner
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) have announced a massive increase in prize money for the 2026 season as the sports looks to expand on growing popularity in the wake of Luke Littler’s World Darts Championship victory.
A £7m increase in prize money is the biggest jump in the history of the PDC and there will be over £25m awarded to competitiors across the season.
The biggest prize naturally comes in the World Darts Championship were the winner will now take home £1m which is double the value that Littler won back in January when he defeated Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final.
Darts’ showpiece event will also increase to an expanded 128-player field with total prize money equalling £5m as the PDC aims to improve the ‘earning potential for players’.
Similarly the other tournaments on the calender will see increases to their prize funds though not to the extent seen in the World Darts Championship.
The Darts Premier League will now pay out £1.25m in total with the champion taking home £350,000 while a £1m prize fund is on offer for the World Matchplay and the Grand Slam of Darts.
The latter competition will have a bigger field of 48 players to mark the 20th anniversary of the unique tournament.
Further down the professional darts pyramid, European Tour events have increased their prize funds to £230,000 for the 14 tournaments to be held next year, while the 34 Players Championship events will rise to £150,000 each.
The PDC have also committed an increase of £5,000 per event to the Challenge Tour, Development Tour and Women’s Series events while increasing funding for global affiliate tours and overseas development by 50%.
PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter said: “The £1m 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.
“Expanding the player fields for the World Darts Championship and Grand Slam of Darts will provide more opportunities than ever before for players around the world to feature in televised PDC events.
“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.”
Prize money for 2025/26 World Darts Championship:
World Darts Championship
Winner: £1,000,000
Runner-Up: £400,000
Semi-Finalists: £200,000
Quarter-Finalists: £100,000
Last 16 losers: £60,000
Last 32 losers: £35,000
Last 64 losers: £25,000
Last 128 losers: £15,000
Total: £5,000,000
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