"I have spoken to the Saudis and they were very keen" - PDC president Barry Hearn open to moving World Darts Championship from Ally Pally

The PDC World Darts Championship has been held at London's iconic Alexandra Palace since 2008. But whether it will remain there for much longer is beginning to look in doubt.

Indeed, PDC president Barry Hearn is considering moving the World Darts Championship to Saudi Arabia. "I have spoken to the Saudis and they were very keen," Hearn, who also recently opened up the idea of moving the Snooker World Championship from its historic home at the Crucible, told The Mirror. "It's a great atmosphere at Ally Pally, but well, we're looking at it. And we're going to be very adventurous because we have tremendous demands all around the world for people that want to play in the World Darts Championship from different countries."

This also opens the idea for a larger World Darts Championship in future also. "We've got to start looking at making the World Championships bigger. If I went from 96 players to 128 for example, which I can easily do in a heartbeat, it brings in a lot more TV money from different countries," Hearn explains. "And from the fans point of view, it gives me an extra 25,000 seats. Still nowhere near enough. I could sell a quarter of a million seats for the world championship. I sell 90,000."

However, Hearn also sees an opportunity to stay at Alexandra Palace and still gain larger audiences and as such, larger revenues. "Do I go into the big hall? I think there's a lot of work, but that would give me 6000 seats. And I'd still be at Ally Pally. Or do I go somewhere else Everyone will say, 'are you gonna take it to Saudi?' Well, no, don't be silly. They're not ready yet, But they won't be far along," he concludes. "They won't allow alcohol and the essence of darts is it's party time, isn't it? It's fun as well as great sport."