Updated: December 11, 2025 • London & online
The lights are back on at Ally Pally, the walk-on music is thundering and 128 of the world’s best players have arrived in north London for the 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship – or, as most fans will call it for the next three weeks, simply “the Worlds”.
This year’s tournament is officially the biggest in PDC history: a record £5 million prize fund, including a landmark £1 million winner’s cheque, and an expanded 128-player field chasing the Sid Waddell Trophy over 20 days of play at Alexandra Palace. Luke Littler returns not as the teenage fairytale, but as defending champion and world No.1, trying to become the first player in a decade to retain the title.
Quick guide: key dates, venue and format
- Tournament name: 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
- Dates: 11 December 2025 – 3 January 2026
- Venue: Alexandra Palace, London (final year in the West Hall before moving to the Great Hall)
- Format: Sets, with the final played over a race to seven sets
- Prize money: £5,000,000 total, £1,000,000 to the champion
- Field: 128 players – top 32 on the PDC Order of Merit seeded, plus qualifiers from around the world
- Defending champion: Luke Littler (England)
How to watch in the UK, US and beyond
For UK fans, every dart is live on Sky Sports Darts, with additional coverage on Sky Sports Main Event. Sky has even rebranded its F1 channel to a dedicated Sky Sports Darts feed for the duration of the tournament, so you can drop in on the Worlds from early evening right through the festive period.
In the United States, the World Championship is being streamed live on Peacock, with selected sessions also carried on FanDuel TV Extra. A Peacock Premium subscription gets you daily Ally Pally action, while international fans can watch via the PDC’s own streaming service, PDCTV, or local rights holders in their region.
For full global broadcast details, the PDC has a handy “where to watch” page and live scores hub that’s being updated throughout the tournament.
Day One at Ally Pally: party started, nerves on show
Opening night at the Worlds is always a mood piece as much as a sporting occasion. The first walk-ons, the first 180s, the first stunned faces when a big seed is pushed hard by a debutant. This year is no different: experienced names like Kim Huybrechts and Madars Razma share the stage with newcomers desperate to prove they belong under the Alexandra Palace lights.
Early on, the pattern is familiar. The seasoned pros lean on their experience in the set format, while a couple of lesser-known qualifiers ride adrenaline to force deciders and steal legs they probably shouldn’t. The averages aren’t yet at the heights we’ll see in the last 16, but the noise level is already there – and that is exactly how the PDC likes the opening Thursday to look.
Littler himself doesn’t throw a dart on the first evening – his title defence begins later in the first round against Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas – but his face is everywhere. Every TV hit, every fantasy darts team and half the fancy-dress shirts in the crowd are built around “The Nuke”. Day One is the soft launch for the real story the whole tournament is built on: can anyone actually stop him?
Who can really stop Luke Littler?
Ask most pundits and they’ll give the same caveat: the biggest danger to Littler is a rare off-day. He has been called “frightening” and a “generational talent” by Sky’s panel and even by players who practise with him. The young Englishman has turned 100-plus averages into routine evenings; the World Championship, in his own words, is “just another tournament to win”.
But there are names being pushed forward as genuine threats:
- Luke Humphries – The cool-headed former world champion is the natural favourite in the bottom half of the draw. He’s already beaten Littler in big finals and has the scoring power to live with him over long sets.
- Gerwyn Price – The former world champion from Wales still has one of the most intimidating A-games on stage. If his doubling holds up and the Ally Pally crowd gets on his side even briefly, he’s capable of dragging Littler into a proper street fight of a match.
- Gian van Veen – The 23-year-old Dutchman arrives as European Champion and a genuine breakout star. After years battling dartitis, he now looks like a relaxed, high-scoring threat who could blow the draw wide open if he catches fire early in the tournament.
- Josh Rock – Rock has quietly become a regular at the business end of majors. In a long set match, where rhythm matters and nerves can be reset between sets, his explosive scoring could trouble any of the favourites.
Realistically, Littler will go off as favourite against all of them. To beat him, someone will need to sustain a 100+ average, hit a ruthless percentage on doubles and, critically, not blink when the Ally Pally crowd starts chanting his name in the big moments. That’s easy to say on a podcast and much harder to do on stage.
Full match coverage for the World Darts Championship 2026 is being updated live on the official PDC results hub, while the BBC’s darts page provides verified schedules and analysis throughout the tournament. UK fans can watch every session on Sky Sports Darts, and viewers in the United States can stream the action live on Peacock.
Why 2026 feels like a new era for darts
Away from the oche, this World Championship is a statement of how far the sport has come. The PDC’s new broadcast deal with Sky Sports kicks in here, and the prize money jump – from £2.5m in the 2024/25 edition to £5m this year – is the largest in tour history. It’s not just the champion who benefits; prize funds are being boosted right across the calendar, from European Tour events to the Women’s Series and Development Tour.
For UK viewers, that means wall-to-wall coverage on Sky’s dedicated darts channel, shoulder programming, podcasts and highlight reels that treat Ally Pally like a major football tournament. For US audiences, the move onto mainstream platforms such as Peacock and FanDuel TV means darts is no longer just a niche late-night curiosity – it’s presented as a legitimate winter staple alongside basketball and the NFL.
Add in the 128-player field, more international qualifiers than ever and an Ally Pally crowd that treats Thursday nights like New Year’s Eve, and it genuinely feels as if darts is entering a different tier as a global TV sport.
What to watch for over the next few days
- Littler’s opener: Has he retained the swagger from last year, or will there be early nerves as the defending champ?
- Seed shocks: A top-16 player usually falls in the opening rounds. If that happens again, the draw could open up dramatically.
- Women and debutants: Players coming through the Women’s Series and regional tours often steal headlines with fearless performances in their first Ally Pally appearance.
- US and Canadian qualifiers: With the World Championship now easier to watch in North America, performances from CDC and regional qualifiers will be closely watched by US fans.
However it plays out, the 2026 Worlds already feels bigger, louder and richer than any edition before. If Littler lifts the trophy again on 3 January, we might be talking about the start of a long-term darts dynasty. If someone stops him, it could be the upset that defines the next decade of the sport.
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Written by Swikblog Sports Desk
Swikblog covers global sport for readers in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with a focus on human-reported stories, verified sources and practical guides on how to watch the biggest games.
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