"No one ever calls it the World Champs, they say 'I'm going to watch at Ally Pally'" - Michael Smith firmly against plans to move World Championship to Saudi Arabia
PDCWednesday, 05 June 2024 at 12:00
The World Darts Championship has been held at London's Alexandra Palace since 2008. But for how much longer will it remain there? That question has been raised after statements by PDC president Barry Hearn that the biggest tournament on the darting calendar is wanted by Saudi Arabia.
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With Hearn also openly courting big money offers to lure the Snooker World Championship away from its spiritual home of the Crucible in Sheffield, the lure of big money may be causing the World Darts Championship to move away from Alexandra Palace. "I have spoken to the Saudis and they were very keen," Hearn said recently in conversation with 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."
Former world champion Michael Smith, however, is completely against the idea of a move. Smith is sure, he wants the World Championship to just stay at Alexandra Palace. "Ally Pally, we should move rooms, not move venues. There's a bigger room in there that holds six or seven thousand," Bullyboy tells Mirror Sport. "It definitely shouldn't be moved, never ever move the venue. It's an iconic thing. You're not going to move the Matchplay, because it's Winter Gardens. It's iconic. The Premier League is iconic to the 02, and the World Champs is Ally Pally. No one ever calls it the World Champs, they say 'I'm going to watch at Ally Pally'. That's what everyone recognises it as, should never move."
Michael Smith won the World Championship at the Ally Pally
Not the World Championship, but Smith is up for another (new) tournament in Saudi Arabia. "Every other sport is there so why not darts? One of the best sports, the biggest party. That is the problem in Saudi, the party side of it," Smith adds. "It's going to be difficult but if I'm part of it when it's there I'd love to go. I like to go to Dubai, I like to take my wife and kids on holiday. Straight from there we go to Bahrain, the kids love it. So why not in Saudi?"
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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