Spectacle in London

Mega rush! World Darts Championship to be expanded

The World Darts Championship is about to be held for the last time in its usual form with 96 participants. The tournament, which begins on Sunday evening at Alexandra Palace in London, is likely to be significantly increased next year. The plan: 128 starters.

Barry Hearn, the association's long-time boss, reported on the British sports radio station Talksport about this apparently imminent decision. "I asked my people at headquarters: 'Tell me, how many tickets could I have sold? They said somewhere over 300,000, which gives it a whole different weight. So we're going to increase next year," said Hearn. 90,000 tickets were sold in around 15 minutes this year.

Stars plead for an increase
The 2025 World Cup runs from December 15 to January 3. From the coming season, the model mentioned by Hearn should see four more days before Christmas with a total of eight sessions and more than 25,000 tickets available. The 76-year-old also questioned the West Hall of Alexandra Palace, which has around 3,500 seats for spectators, as a venue. The reason for this is the relatively small capacity with ever-increasing interest.

Top players such as world champion Luke Humphries (England) and Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) were also open to change. "Of course we need more sessions, more darts and more tickets for the fans," said Humphries. Van Gerwen called the plan "great".

While in the current mode the 32 best players in the ranking start with a walk-through in round one, this would be dropped with 128 participants. Humphries, van Gerwen and Co. would then play twice before Christmas instead of just once as at present. The tournament would then function like a Grand Slam in tennis.