2026 in PDC

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The year 2026 is the 35th year in the history of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), a darts organisation based in the United Kingdom.

Professional Darts Corporation logo

PDC in 2026

Increases to prize money and tournament sizes

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]

More information Tournament, Year ...
Prize money changes between the 2026 and 2025 PDC seasons (£1000s)[3][5]
Tournament Year Total Winner Finalist Top 4 Top 8 Top 16 Top 32 Top 48 Top 64 Top 96 Top 128
Televised tournaments
UK Open 2026 750 120 60 35 20 12.5 7.5 N/a 3 2 1.25
2025 600 110 50 30 15 10 5 N/a 2.5 1.5 1
Premier League Darts[A] 2026 1,250 350 170 110 95–80[B] N/a
2025 1,000 275 125 85 75–60[C] N/a
World Cup of Darts
per pair		 2026 500 100 48 30 20 10 6[D] 5[E] N/a
2025 450 80 50 30 20 9 5[D] 4[E]
World Matchplay 2026 1,000 225 125 65 35 22.5 12.5 N/a N/a
2025 800 200 100 50 30 15 10 N/a
Women's World Matchplay 2026 40 15 8 4.5 2 N/a
2025 25 10 5 2.5 1.25 N/a
World Series Finals 2026 450 100 60 30 17.5 10 5 N/a
2025 400 80 40 25 17.5 10 5 N/a
World Grand Prix 2026 750 150 80 50 35 20 7.5 N/a
2025 600 120 60 40 25 15 7.5 N/a
European Championship 2026 750 150 80 50 35 20 7.5 N/a
2025 600 120 60 40 25 15 7.5 N/a
Grand Slam of Darts[F] 2026 1,000 200 100 60 35 20 12.5[G] 5 N/a
2025 650 150 70 50 25 12 5[H] N/a
Players Championship Finals 2026 750 130 70 40 27.5 15 7 N/a 4 N/a
2025 600 120 60 30 20 10 6.5 N/a 3 N/a
European Tour events
(15 in 2026, 14 in 2025)		 2026 230 35 15 10 8 5 3.5 2 N/a N/a
2025 175 30 12 8.5 6 4 2.5 1.25 N/a
Floor tournaments[I]
Players Championship events 2026 150 15 10 6.5 4 3 2 N/a 1.25 N/a
2025 125 15 10 5 3.5 2.5 1.5 N/a 1.0 N/a
World Youth Championship 2026 100 15 7 3.4 2 1.5 0.8 N/a 0.6 0.4 0.2
2025 100 12 6 3 2 1.5 1 N/a 0.6 0.4 0.2
Challenge Tour and
Development Tour events		 2026 20 3 2 1 0.75 0.35 0.25 N/a 0.1 N/a
2025 15 2.5 1 0.75 0.5 0.3 0.2 N/a 0.075 N/a
Women's Series events 2026 15 2.5 1 0.75 0.5 0.3 0.2 N/a 0.75 N/a
2025 10 2 1 0.5 0.3 0.2 0.1 N/a 0.05 N/a
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  1. [A]
    Nightly winners receive a £10,000 bonus
  2. [B]
    The fifth-placed player will receive £95,000, the sixth-placed £90,000, the seventh-placed £85,000 and the eighth-placed £80,000.
  3. [C]
    The fifth-placed player received £75,000, the sixth-placed £70,000, the seventh-placed £65,000 and the eighth-placed £60,000.
  4. [D]
    Awarded 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.
  5. [E]
    Awarded 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.
  6. [F]
    In 2026, the Grand Slam of Darts will expand from 8 groups of 4 players to 16 groups of 3 players.
  7. [G]
    Second-placed players in the group stage.
  8. [H]
    £8,000 and £5,000 were awarded to the third and fourth place finishers respectively in the group stage, which comprised the top 32.
  9. [I]
    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]

New event locations

The 2026 Premier League Darts schedule was announced in September 2025 and included a night in Belgium for the first time, as Antwerp replaced Exeter in the lineup.[9] The 2026 European Tour saw the introduction of two new events: the Poland Darts Open in Kraków and the Slovak Darts Open in Bratislava.[10][11] The Poland Darts Open replaced the Poland Darts Masters, a World Series event that was on the PDC calendar since 2023, while the Slovak Darts Open marked the PDC's first visit to Slovakia.[12]

As part of the 2026 World Series of Darts, it was announced that the PDC would hold its first event in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters, in January.[13] The announcement followed interest shown by PDC president Barry Hearn and General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh to take darts to the country.[14][15]

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]

ITV extension

In October 2025, the PDC agreed to a new three-year deal with ITV Sport to broadcast events on ITV4 and ITVX until 2028; these events included the World Masters, UK Open, European Championship, Players Championship Finals, World Series Finals, and all global World Series events. The announcement also stated that the PDC would take control of its own event production, which was previously managed by ITV.[18][19]

Affiliate Tour expansion

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]

More information Date, Event ...
Date Event Venue Champion Score Runner-up Ref.
11 December 2025 – 3 January 2026 World Championship Alexandra Palace, London, England Luke Littler  (106.02) 7–1  Gian van Veen (99.94) [24]
28 January – 1 February 2026 World Masters Arena MK, Milton Keynes, England Luke Littler  (104.72) 6–5  Luke Humphries (105.51) [25]
6–8 March 2026 UK Open Butlin's Resort, Minehead, England Luke Littler  (99.58) 11–7  James Wade (89.49) [26]
18–26 July 2026 World Matchplay Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England
28 September – 4 October 2026 World Grand Prix Mattioli Arena, Leicester, England
22–25 October 2026 European Championship Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, Germany
14–22 November 2026 Grand Slam WV Active Aldersley, Wolverhampton, England
27–29 November 2026 Players Championship Finals Butlin's Resort, Minehead, England
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Non-ranked

The events listed in these tables are non-ranked invitational tournaments.[23]

More information Date, Event ...
Date Event Venue Champion Score Runner-up Ref.
5 February – 28 May Premier League The O2 Arena, London, England[a]
11– 14 June World Cup Eissporthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
17–20 September World Series Finals AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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World Series of Darts

Main article: 2026 World Series of Darts

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]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Event Venue Champion Score Runner-up Ref.
1 15–16 January Bahrain Masters Exhibition World Bahrain, Sakhir, Bahrain Michael van Gerwen  (100.91) 8–6  Gian van Veen (100.79) [27]
2 19–20 January Saudi Arabia Masters Global Theatre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Luke Littler  (104.84) 8–5  Michael van Gerwen (101.79) [28]
3 5–6 June Nordic Masters Forum Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
4 25–26 June US Masters Madison Square Garden, New York City, United States
5 14–15 August New Zealand Masters Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand
6 21–22 August Australian Masters WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, Australia
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Pro Tour

Main article: 2026 PDC Pro Tour

The 2026 PDC Pro Tour is a series of darts tournaments organised by the PDC, consisting of 34 Players Championship events and 15 European Tour events.[12]

Tour cards

Main article: List of players with a 2026 PDC Tour Card

The 2026 PDC Tour Cards were awarded to:

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.[29]

Q-School

Main article: 2026 PDC Pro Tour § Q-School

The players below earned PDC Tour Cards at UK Q-School in Milton Keynes and European Q-School in Kalkar.

More information 8 January, 9 January ...
8 January[30] 9 January[31] 10 January[32] 11 January[33]
UK Q-School
 Rhys Griffin (WAL)
 Adam Leek (AUS)		  Carl Sneyd (ENG)
 Niall Culleton (IRL)		  Shane McGuirk (IRL)
 Tom Sykes (ENG)		  Charlie Manby (ENG)
 Samuel Price (ENG)
European Q-School
 Arno Merk (GER)
 Filip Bereza (POL)		  Jeffrey Sparidaans (NED)
 Cristo Reyes (ESP)		  Matthias Ehlers (GER)
 Yorick Hofkens (GER)		  Sietse Lap (NED)
 Jeffrey de Zwaan (NED)
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At the end of the fourth day in the Final Stage, the following players picked up Tour Cards through the Orders of Merit:[33][34]

Secondary tours

Main articles: 2026 PDC Challenge Tour series, 2026 PDC Development Tour series, and 2026 PDC Women's Series

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.[35]

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][36]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Venue Winner Legs Runner-up Ref.
1 24 January Le Méridien Hotel and Conference Centre,
United Arab Emirates Dubai, United Arab Emirates		 Haruki Muramatsu  (94.66) 5 – 4  Motomu Sakai (88.50) [37]
2 24 January Haruki Muramatsu  (99.62) 5 – 1  Altantülkhüür Myagmarsüren (80.62) [38]
3 25 January Man Lok Leung  (94.96) 5 – 3  Alain Abiabi (91.61) [39]
4 25 January Ryuta Arihara  (94.44) 5 – 4  Christian Perez (88.99) [40]
5 4 April Twin Messe,
Japan Shizuoka, Japan		 Lok Yin Lee  (87.57) 5 – 3  Paolo Nebrida (86.66) [41]
6 4 April Tomoya Goto  (84.90) 5 – 4  Lok Yin Lee (84.55) [42]
7 5 April Man Lok Leung  (90.30) 5 – 4  Lok Yin Lee (91.46) [43]
8 5 April Ganzorig Lkhagvasüren  (85.40) 5 – 0  Ryuta Arihara (82.93) [44]
9 2 May Raintree Club
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia		 Aris Quijano  (94.19) 5 – 3  Ryusei Azemoto (90.91) [45]
10 2 May Paolo Nebrida  (97.32) 5 – 3  Aris Quijano (87.50) [46]
11 3 May Haruki Muramatsu  (85.77) 5 – 1  Lihao Wen (74.37) [47]
12 3 May Paolo Nebrida  (85.98) 5 – 3  Yuta Hayashi (83.35) [48]
13 16 May Triple Event Hall,
Mongolia Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
14 16 May
15 17 May
16 17 May
17 11 July Forest5 Darts Cafe,
Singapore Singapore
18 11 July
19 12 July
20 12 July
21 1 August Winford Resort and Casino,
Philippines Manila, Philippines
22 1 August
23 2 August
24 2 August
25 12 September TBC
China China
26 12 September
27 13 September
28 13 September
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Championship Darts Circuit (CDC)

The Championship Darts Circuit (CDC) is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from North America. The 2026 calendar consists of 16 tournaments.[20]

Cross-Border Darts Challenge

The Cross-Border Darts Challenge featured eight players from both Canada and the United States. The event took place in Deer Lake, Newfoundland on 17–18 April.[49][50]

First round
(best of 9 legs)
17 Apr 		Quarter-finals
(best of 9 legs)
18 Apr 		Semi-finals
(best of 11 legs)
18 Apr 		Final
(best of 13 legs)
18 Apr
            
USA1  Adam Sevada 82.82 5
 John Part 76.44 2
USA1  Adam Sevada 93.02 5
CAN4  Jim Long 84.14 3
CAN4  Jim Long 89.79 5
 Doug Boehm 80.60 2
USA1  Adam Sevada 91.27 6
CAN2  Darryl Christie 83.54 4
CAN2  Darryl Christie 75.08 5
 Jason Brandon 76.16 3
CAN2  Darryl Christie 77.15 5
 Jacob Taylor 79.84 2
USA3  Leonard Gates 87.32 4
 Jacob Taylor 90.21 5
USA1  Adam Sevada 88.67 3
CAN1  David Cameron 94.80 7
CAN1  David Cameron 92.78 5
 Larry Butler 65.04 0
CAN1  David Cameron 88.42 5
 Jeff Smith 86.37 3
USA4  Gary Mawson 80.63 2
 Jeff Smith 84.28 5
CAN1  David Cameron 83.59 6
CAN3  Kiley Edmunds 84.42 2
USA2  Stowe Buntz 83.34 4
 Albert Anstey 84.14 5
 Albert Anstey 80.19 1
CAN3  Kiley Edmunds 84.03 5
CAN3  Kiley Edmunds 84.06 5
 Nick Linberg 77.01 3

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.[51][52]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Venue Winner Legs Runner-up Ref.
1 7 February Radisson Riga Valdemara,
Latvia Riga, Latvia		 Cor Dekker  (90.68) 6 – 5  Andreas Harrysson (92.83) [53]
2 8 February Jani Haavisto  (95.47) 6 – 4  Oskar Lukasiak (87.14)
3 28 March Jonas Sørensen  (80.10) 6 – 1  Cor Dekker (87.18) [54]
4 29 March Cor Dekker  (82.64) 6 – 1  Jani Haavisto (77.70)
5 25 April Hotel Tallukka,
Finland Vääksy, Finland		 Darius Labanauskas  (88.40) 6 – 5  Andreas Toft Jørgensen (85.66) [55]
6 26 April Mio Varila  (83.60) 6 – 3  Cor Dekker (88.14)
7 16 May Apple Hotel,
Sweden Gothenburg, Sweden
8 17 May
9 8 August Best Western Plus,
Norway Oslo, Norway
10 9 August
11 26 September Nordic Forum Hotel,
Estonia Tallinn, Estonia
12 27 September
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ANZ Premier League

The second installment of the ANZ Premier League will occur in 2026. Dates will be confirmed at a later date.[20]

Australian Darts Association (ADA)

The Australian Darts Association (ADA) tour increased to 24 events from 12 in 2025.[56] Each event offers AU$5,600 in prize money.[20]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Location Winner Legs/Sets Runner-up Ref.
1 20–22 February Silver Sands, Western Australia Brody Klinge  (89.29) 6 – 0  James Bailey (81.88) [57]
2 Brody Klinge  (92.56) 6 – 3  Darren Penhall (91.60) [58]
3 Raymond Smith  (90.66) 6 – 2 Australia Anthony Shreeve (81.07) [59]
4 Raymond Smith  (84.50) 2 – 1 Australia Michael Bajowski (79.47) [60]
5 13–15 March Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Brody Klinge  (93.85) 6 – 2  Darren Penhall (82.71) [61]
6 Raymond Smith  (86.74) 6 – 4  James Bailey (79.10) [62]
7 Darren Penhall  (93.60) 6 – 3  Raymond Smith (98.14) [63]
8 Brody Klinge  (87.64) 2 – 1  Raymond Smith (87.35) [64]
9 15–17 May Sandgate, Queensland
10
11
12
13 26–28 June Melton, Victoria
14
15
16
17 7–9 August Penrith, New South Wales
18
19
20
21 5–7 September Elizabeth North, South Australia
22
23
24
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Dartplayers New Zealand (DPNZ) Pro Tour

The Dartplayers New Zealand (DPNZ) Pro Tour consists of 12 events over six weekends.[65] Prize money will increase with each event worth NZ$5,000.[20]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Venue Winner Legs Runner-up Ref.
1 14 February Kapi Mana Darts, Wellington Kayden Milne  (77.26) 7 – 2  Haupai Puha (72.29) [66]
2 15 February Ben Robb  (86.28) 7 – 2  Jonny Tata (81.16) [67]
3 21 March CSDA, Christchurch Kayden Milne  (77.94) 7 – 3  Jack Sheppard (73.19) [68]
4 22 March Ben Robb  (81.93) 7 – 5  Mark Cleaver (76.43) [69]
5 25 April Sun City, Nelson Ben Robb  (89.18) 7 – 1 New Zealand Jordan Bennett-Davies (79.81) [70]
6 26 April Jonny Tata  (91.31) 7 – 4  Ben Robb (89.41) [71]
7 24 May Howick Club, Auckland
8 25 May
9 23 August CSDA, Christchurch
10 24 August
11 27 September Pukekohe Cossie Club, Auckland
12 28 September
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Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean (CDLC) Tour

The Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean (CDLC) Tour is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from Latin America and the Caribbean. The 2026 calendar consists of six events organised over two weekends, the first in Panama and the second in the Bahamas.

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Location Winner Legs Runner-up Ref.
1 Thursday 23 April Panama Panama City, Panama Jesús Sálate  (85.08) 6 – 0  Joshua Balfour (74.53) [72]
2 Saturday 25 April Jesús Sálate  (97.56) 6 – 1  Victor Guillin (77.21) [73]
3 Sunday 26 April Norman Madhoo  (73.24) 6 – 1  Dean Persad (55.44) [74]
4 Friday 24 July The Bahamas Nassau, Bahamas
5 Saturday 25 July
6 Sunday 26 July
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Next Gen

The PDC Europe Next Gen is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The 2026 season consists of 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.[75] 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.[76]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Location Format Winner Legs Runner-up Ref.
1 31 January Germany Hildesheim FA Cup Daniel Klose  (90.35) 6 – 1  Jaimy van de Weerd (84.56) [77]
2 1 February Swiss Florian Preis  (93.24) 6 – 2  Finn Behrens (84.91)
3 14 February Germany Kalkar FA Cup Paul Krohne  (99.34) 6 – 1  Jaimy van de Weerd (87.09) [78]
4 15 February Master Out Paul Krohne  (98.57) 6 – 4  Dragutin Horvat (86.43)
5 7 March Germany Hildesheim FA Cup Patrick Tringler  (81.31) 6 – 3 Germany Finn Prokop (81.54) [79]
6 8 March DIDO Daniel Klose  (70.80) 6 – 5  René Eidams (75.89)
7 27 June Austria Ried im Innkreis FA Cup
8 28 June 170
9 4 July FA Cup
10 5 July Master Out
11 25 July Germany Hildesheim FA Cup
12 26 July DIDO
13 8 August Germany Sindelfingen FA Cup
14 9 August 170
15 15 August Master Out
16 16 August FA Cup
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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.

Steel Tour Japan

The Steel Tour Japan is the PDC Global Affiliate Tour for players from Japan. The 2026 calendar consists of 12 events held over three weekends.[80]

More information No., Date ...
No. Date Location Winner Legs Runner-up Ref.
1 5 May Chiba Central Hall, Chiba Motomu Sakai  (89.91) 5 – 3  Kenichi Ajiki (75.65) [81]
2 Keita Ono  (89.28) 5 – 3  Motomu Sakai (85.13) [82]
3 6 May Yutaka Sunakawa  (86.46) 5 – 2  Motomu Sakai (84.23) [83]
4 Keita Ono  (83.34) 5 – 2  Motomu Sakai (82.07) [84]
5 15 August Daito City Civic Hall, Osaka
6
7 16 August
8
9 22 September Memorial Hall, Yokohama
10
11 23 September
12
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Notes

  1. [a]
    The tournament is held across 17 different venues, with the finals being played in The O2 Arena.

References

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