Just How Much Can Darts Players Earn?

After just recently investigating whether snooker was a budget-friendly career for those wishing to win World Championships at the Crucible Theatre, we believed it may make sense to make a comparable case for those guys and ladies who attempt to step to the oche.

With the pinnacle of any darts season being its own World Championships - one that is held at the famous Alexandra Palace in London, this is where the biggest reward pot of the year can be won and what better way to commemorate a brand-new 12 months than by earning a significant amount of cash at the start.

The masterpiece event of the year and the greatest cash prize available at any phase, The PDC World By TWsk - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85102750

While hefty can be determined in pounds, ₤ 500,000 to be accurate. That is the figure that is paid for to the winner of the darts' masterpiece event and the last person to receive this financial freedom was Luke Littler in 2025.

However, not everybody can be happy sufficient to call themselves as the best darts player worldwide and although the winner chooses up a cool half million pounds for their efforts, a preliminary departee will only earn ₤ 7,500 by comparison.

To get a much better idea of prospective profits, here is the breakdown of the major ranking tv events and PDC Pro Tour events and the cash prize that is afforded. Everyone wants the biggest rewards available, some might need to enjoy with whatever they can make along the method.

Of course, the subject of profits is essential to any man or lady who throws arrows for a living and eventually it all boils down to trying to make a living. Not only to foot the bill, however to likewise get a better ranking the PDC's Order of Merit.

The Order of Merit is a rolling two-year profits list that manages those at the greater end to the better paying tournaments. The more you make over that rolling duration, the most likely you are to appear at Alexandra Palace.

For example, here are there essential cut off points for 3 of the greatest annual competitions:

Players get approved for specific telecasted ranking occasions based upon their world ranking from the PDC Order of Merit, including:

Cazoo World Darts Championship - Top 32 at cut-off date

PDC World Darts Championship Betting Tips Guide

Betfred World Matchplay - Top 16 at cut-off date

World Matchplay Darts Betting Guide

BoyleSports World Grand Prix - Top 16 at cut-off date

World Grand Prix Darts Betting Guide

The leading 32 is the most important cut-off point of all and here is what the list presently looks like at the time of writing:

2024 World Champion Luke Humphries sits at the top of the list and the ₤ 500,000 he selected up at the start over 12 months ago sees him just get the much better of existing World Champion Luke Littler. Humphries has ₤ 1.8 m in profits over the previous 2 years, his nearest challenger is at ₤ 1.2 m.

The only two guys to exceed more than ₤ 1m in revenues during the allocated duration and with former World Champion Michael Van Gerwen having some work to do if he likewise wants to clear this threshold as the Dutchman presently has simply except ₤ 800k revenues to his name.

Micheal Smith 2023 PDC World Champion - By Sven Mandel - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92970763

Gerwin sits 3rd after having actually made ₤ 779k, Rob Cross is 4th having made ₤ 566,000 over the previous two years. Not a figure that the Englishman will reject but one that highlights where the variations start to start.

Once you get previous Gerwyn Price in tenth place, no player has actually earned over ₤ 500k. Remember Luke Littler earned this by winning the World Championship in 2025, this list is a measure over 2 years.

Who's striking bullseye in earnings?

We likewise know that the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix only accept the top 16 highest earners at their particular cut off dates, Gary Anderson with ₤ 428,250 to his name will hope it arrives rather soon, as 17th put and 2023 World Champion Michael Smith Jose De Sousa is only ₤ 17,250 behind.

While we likewise know that the World Championship accepts the top 32 immediately and at the time of writing, Luke Woodhouse and Brendan Dolan share this position ₤ 266,250 in revenues each to their name and a race between the two to gather more revenues now begins.

These are the players who will make the huge tournaments without breaking a sweat but where does the sweating occurred when gamers are starting to pay their costs. If we take the UK's typical wage as ₤ 33,000, two years at this rate would need a player to make ₤ 66,000.

Now we understand that we can see where the financial belts might need to be tightened:

At the current rate of UK income profits, only the leading 64 players can better this through their Order of Merit earnings. Great news if you are Jeffrey De Graaf in 64th, not so great news if you are Thibault Tricole in 65th.

Although Tricole is simply under the incomes limit, sponsorships are likely to keep him in steady financial health. This might likewise need to be balanced out versus visiting costs, however after simply missing out by ₤ 3,000 you get the feeling Thibault is not going to be retiring anytime soon.

Getting into the huge tournaments is a breeze for top gamers, however paying the costs? Not so simple!

With that stated, simply 64 players having the ability to beat the UK average salary is a somewhat distressing concern, there is no doubt that darts has actually progressed from activity to sport however the elephant in the space is whether it is growing fast enough.

In fairness that growth can likewise be measured by the truth that 96 gamers make their method to Alexandra Palace each year going for a shot of magnificence and each of them will take home a minimum benefit of ₤ 7,500.

But what if we took a look at the 96th player in the current Order of Merit and saw how their revenues compared:

For instance, If we look at the revenues of Justin Hood in 96th it does not make for especially great reading. He has currently earned approximately ₤ 3,750 - a figure that is less than a preliminary exit of the World Championship.

An Exception

Matt Edgar - Darts Professional and OLBG Darts Expert

The work is even worse if you are Thomas Lovely who rounds out the top 100. With ₤ 5,250 made during the current Order of Merit cycle, this relates to simply ₤ 2,625 a year. Far except the ₤ 33,000 which is the UK's average income.

Not only that, but the lower down the darts totem pole, the lower the sponsorship deals can command in value and if Thibault Tricole can get by on an additional financial inducement, the same can not be stated for Lovely in 100th.

Something that used to suggest that if you get into the leading 64 you can begin to begin dreaming of giving up the day job and in turn, you can also dream about conquering the world. Now though, with the professional tour now set to go mid week, it will be an option in between the task and the career. Whereas previously, darts' weekend warriors would rack up the tour cash prize, midweek matches are a different proposition and if players wish to play all the upcoming schedule, a minimum of 2 months off a year is unrealistic. Now that dream about dominating the world may have to be placed on the back burner if the amounts do not checkout.