PDC World Darts Championship 2026 prize money explained: How much can Littler, Humphries, Van Gerwen and Price earn as record amount set

The 2026 PDC World Darts Championship will be the biggest tournament ever financially. A total prize pool of £5 million will be distributed at Alexandra Palace, with the world champion receiving a record £1 million.

Never before had so much money been on hand during the most important darts spectacle of the year. By comparison, at the first edition of the PDC World Darts Championship in 1994, the total prize money was only £64,000. In over thirty years, that amount has grown to nearly eighty times that amount, with a steady increase since the late 1990s.
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In 1999 the tournament first paid out more than £100,000, in 2010 it broke the £1 million mark, and from 2019 through the 2025 edition the prize pool remained stable at £2.5 million. The doubling for the 2026 edition marks a new era in the professionalization of the sport.

All 128 participants start immediately in the first round and are guaranteed a minimum amount of 15,000 pounds. Those who win their opening match will receive £25,000. Upon qualifying for the last 32, that amount increases to £35,000.

Once the tournament resumes after the Christmas break, the prize money increases significantly. Players who reach the last sixteen will receive £60,000, and for a place in the quarter-finals, £100,000 awaits.

The semi-finalists receive £200,000. In the finals, a total of 1.4 million pounds will be paid out, with 400,000 pounds going to the losing finalist and 1 million pounds to the new world champion.

The prize money counts in full toward the PDC Order of Merit, the official world ranking drawn up based on performance over a 104-week period. Winning the world title is usually good for a solid position in the top four of the world rankings.