The Professional Darts Corporation has slammed its foot on the accelerator and announced a £3 million-plus investment into its Global Affiliate Tours between 2026 and 2028, sending a very clear message to the rest of the sporting world — darts is not just growing, it’s going everywhere.
As you might gather for our name Darts World has always championed darts at every level and across the globe. The recent surges and resultant stories have been truly remarkable.
This is not tinkering around the edges. This is a full-blooded, three-year commitment that forms part of the PDC’s wider prize-fund explosion and grassroots expansion, an ambitious and unapologetic push to turn professional darts into a genuinely global beast. And the timing could not be better.
The opening rounds of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship have already provided a living, breathing advert for worldwide progress, with international qualifiers stepping onto the Alexandra Palace stage and proving — loudly — that talent is no longer confined by postcode or passport.
The plan is simple, ruthless and brilliant: boost prize money on every Affiliate Tour, guarantee minimum payouts, and open up clearer pathways for elite players from every corner of the globe.
That means shots at PDC Qualifying School, the World Masters Preliminary Rounds, and genuine access to the World Cup, Grand Slam and the World Championship itself. In short: if you’re good enough, the doors are no longer locked.
The Asian Tour will kick things off in Dubai this January, featuring 28 tournaments during 2026, each worth US$15,000, alongside the US$110,000 PDC Asian Championship — serious money, serious intent.
Across the Atlantic, the Championship Darts Corporation will pump out US$250,000 across a 16-event North American Tour, with additional payouts tied to the Continental Cup, Cross-Border Darts Challenge, and the North American Darts Championship, staged alongside the US Darts Masters.
Europe’s northern reaches aren’t being left behind either. The Nordic & Baltic Tour continues its upward climb with 12 ProTour events worth €7,500 each, feeding into the €20,000 Nordic & Baltic Championship, introduced just last year.
Down under, prize money rises again on the DartPlayers New Zealand circuit, while the Australian Darts Association expands to 24 events across six weekends, each carrying AU$5,600, with the ANZ Premier League returning after a hugely successful debut.
China gets a 20-event tour, Africa gains a strengthened Continental structure with expanded World Championship qualification, and Latin America & the Caribbean continue their steady rise through the CDLC circuit, supported once again by the PDC. This is darts laying foundations, not just building stages.
PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter summed up the scale of the moment:
“This is a huge show of support for all our Global Affiliate Tours and possibly the most significant announcement ever for the worldwide growth of darts. We have worked hard alongside our local partners in each region to build their calendars and provide increased opportunities and pathways for their players – and the results we are starting to see in our Premier events, plus the growing spread of Tour Card Holders, shows that we are heading in the right direction to achieve our goal of truly globalising professional darts.
“This announcement gives our global partners certainty for the next three years but also a platform to continue growing the sport across their regions. The success Kenya’s David Munyua and India’s Nitin Kumar in being their nation’s first winners on the World Championship stage and with Jesus Salate becoming the first Argentinian player in the event will only inspire more players from around the world and there is now a defined route for these players to gain more big-stage experience.
“These increases in our global support follow the prize fund boosts implemented from now onwards across the PDC circuit, as we enter a hugely exciting new era for our sport.”
There is also a key structural shift behind the scenes, with long-serving PDC media figure Dave Allen moving into a newly created role as Head of Development, tasked with working directly alongside global partners to drive the sport’s expansion even further. This is not a vision statement. This is not a promise. This is darts, backed with money, momentum and a roadmap — and the rest of the world is officially invited to the party.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
