Last updated 8 September 2026. Dates and results verified against the PDC and Alexandra Palace.
For a fortnight every winter, the biggest show in British sport wears fancy dress. The World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace is 90,000 pints, a hundred walk-on songs, and the best players on the planet throwing for the sport’s biggest prize.
This page keeps the roll of honour, the Welsh story and the key dates in one place, updated after every final.
When is the World Darts Championship?
Thursday 11 December 2026 to Sunday 3 January 2027, at Alexandra Palace in north London.
This year is different in one significant way. The tournament moves into Ally Pally’s Great Hall for the first time, with a record 180,000 tickets available across the three weeks.
Tickets are also being handled differently. For the first time the PDC is using a ballot rather than a general on-sale scramble, with separate priority and general ballots opening in September 2026.
What is new for 2026/27
The move to the Great Hall is the biggest change to the tournament’s setup in years. Ally Pally’s West Hall had become the sport’s spiritual home, and a bigger room means more people in it, which is the whole economy of the event: the darts are on television, but the atmosphere is the product.
The ballot matters if you want to go. Previous years ran on a first-come on-sale that sold out in minutes and pushed a lot of demand onto resale sites at unpleasant prices. A ballot spreads it, and it means you need to register rather than sit refreshing a page.
World Darts Championship winners
| Year | Champion | Runner-up | Final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Luke Littler | Gian van Veen | 7-1 |
| 2025 | Luke Littler | Michael van Gerwen | 7-3 |
| 2024 | Luke Humphries | Luke Littler | 7-4 |
| 2023 | Michael Smith | Michael van Gerwen | 7-4 |
| 2022 | Peter Wright | Michael Smith | 7-5 |
| 2021 | Gerwyn Price | Gary Anderson | 7-3 |
| 2020 | Peter Wright | Michael van Gerwen | 7-3 |
| 2019 | Michael van Gerwen | Michael Smith | 7-3 |
| 2018 | Rob Cross | Phil Taylor | 7-2 |
| 2017 | Michael van Gerwen | Gary Anderson | 7-3 |
| 2016 | Gary Anderson | Adrian Lewis | 7-5 |
| 2015 | Gary Anderson | Phil Taylor | 7-6 |
| 2014 | Michael van Gerwen | Peter Wright | 7-4 |
| 2013 | Phil Taylor | Michael van Gerwen | 7-4 |
| 2012 | Adrian Lewis | Andy Hamilton | 7-3 |
| 2011 | Adrian Lewis | Gary Anderson | 7-5 |
| 2010 | Phil Taylor | Simon Whitlock | 7-3 |
The era has a name on it: Luke Littler, world champion back-to-back in 2025 and 2026, and still barely old enough to rent a car. Phil Taylor’s 14 PDC titles remain the mountain the sport assumes will stand forever.
The Welsh at the Worlds
Wales has a world champion of its own. Gerwyn Price, the former Cross Keys and Glasgow Warriors hooker, beat Gary Anderson 7-3 in 2021 to take the title and the world number 1 spot with it, the first Welshman to do either in the PDC era.
He’s not alone. Jonny Clayton, the Ferret from Pontyberem, has won the Premier League, the Masters and multiple majors while keeping his day job with Carmarthenshire council for years, possibly the most Welsh fact in sport. Between them, Price and Clayton make Wales a genuine force every December.
And the roadshow comes home each spring: Premier League Darts plays a Cardiff night at the Utilita Arena every year, with Price and Clayton regulars on the bill.
Betting on the darts
The Worlds is one of the biggest betting events of the winter: outright markets run from the summer, and every session brings match, handicap and 180s markets. Form at the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals in November is the traditional guide to who arrives at the Palace throwing well.
DragonBet prices the outright and every session on our darts odds page, and our World Darts Championship section carries tips and previews through the tournament.
18+. Please gamble responsibly. For guidance and support visit GambleAware.
More darts from the blog: how Welsh darts keeps landing above its weight.
Sources: PDC World Championship records; Alexandra Palace for 2026/27 dates, venue and ticketing. Correct as of 8 September 2026.
