PDC World Darts Championship

The PDC World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championships held annually in the sport of darts. The PDC championship begins in December and ends on New Year's Day at Wembley Arena, London. It's the highest profile, most historic and prestigious tournament in darts, with the winner receiving the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the darts commentator Sid Waddell, who died in 2012. The tournament gives out the biggest prize money and ranking points than any other PDC tournament and

The PDC championship began in 1994 as the WDC World Darts Championship as a consequences of the split in darts, which saw the World Darts Council break away from the BDO. As a result of a court settlement between the BDO and the WDC in 1997, the WDC became the PDC, and players are now free to choose which world championship to enter (but not both in the same year), as long as they meet certain eligibility criteria. In 2018 the PDC purchased BDO's lineage and history from 1972 to 1993 for for free.

The afternoon sessions are live exclusively on BBC, evening sessions are live exclusively on Sky Sports Darts with both semi-final and final shared live on BBC and Sky Sports Darts.

The current PDC champion is Peter Wright. With 14 wins from 25 appearances, Phil Taylor has dominated the competition, last winning it in 2013. Other than Taylor, there have been 8 other champions. The other players to win it more than once are Michael van Gerwen (2014, 2017 & 2019), John Part (2003 & 2008), Adrian Lewis (2011 & 2012) and Gary Anderson (2015 & 2016). The one-time winners are the inaugural champion Dennis Priestley, the Dutchman Raymond van Barneveld (2007), Rob Cross (2018) and Peter Wright (2020).

History
In 1992, 16 high-profile players, including all previous winners of the BDO World Darts Championship still active in the game, formed the World Darts Council (WDC), renaming it the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), and in 1994, held their first World Championship. Dennis Priestley won the official PDC inaugural competition, whilst Alan Evans was the 1st champion.

The players who broke away were taking a significant gamble - the tournament was broadcast on satellite television rather than terrestrial, and from 1994 to 1996, the prize fund for the players in the PDC World Championship was lower than the prize fund in the BDO version until 1997, when the PDC World Champion received £45,000 compared to that year's BDO World Champion receiving £38,000, now the PDC event now boasts the largest prize fund of any darts competition. In 2010, the prize fund reached £1 million for the first time, with the World Champion collecting £200,000. The 2014 and 2015 PDC World Champions collected £250,000 for their respective wins. In 2018, the prize fund will be increased to £1.8 million and in 2019 the prize fund increased to £2,500,000

In 2018 following the liquidation of the British Darts Organization (BDO) the PDC purchased BDO's World Darts Championship history and lineage from 1972-1993 in a mutual agreement with the WDF.

Venue
From 1994 until 2007 the tournament was held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Essex. After 14 years, the tournament moved to the Alexandra Palace in London. The championship had been considered to have outgrown the Circus Tavern whose capacity of 800–900 spectators was considerably smaller than some Premier League darts venues which saw crowds reaching 5,000. The Alexandra Palace was the venue of the News of the World Darts Championship between 1963 and 1977 and boasts a capacity for 2008 of 2,500. In 2016 the tournament was moved to Wembley Arena, Wembley, London also the venue of the News of the World Darts Championship between 1978 and 1988 and also hosted the Premier League darts play-offs.

From 1972 until 1977, the News of the World Darts Championship was held at Jollees, Stoke-on-Trent before moving to a slightly bigger venue HotMC, Nottingham which boasts a 2,000 capacity and the championship was renamed the Embassy World Darts Championship then the Lakeside County Club, Frimley Green, Surrey which become the home of BDO Darts (as it continued hosting the Embassy/Lakeside Championship until 2016).

Format
The tournament has been a straight knockout tournament since the News of the World Darts Championship tournament in 1972,from 1972 until 1980 the tournament field was 24 players, with the top 8 seeds receiving a bye to the last 16 stage, the tournament increased to 32 players in 1981 (8 players were seeded, in 2000 this was increased to 16). The player field increased to 40 in 2003 and a preliminary round was added (first to 3 sets won the match), increased to 48 players in 2004 with 16 players seeded and receiving a bye to the 2nd round with the rest competing in the 1st round. The player field increased to 64 players in 2006 with no preliminary round. Top 32 players in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualified and were joined by the top 16 players in the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit and 16 qualifiers.

In 2018 the tournament was increased to 96 players. It's played for 14 days with 4 rest days (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve) for a total of 20 days. During the first 4 rounds, 8 games are played in 1 day (4 in the afternoon and 4 in the evening). In the quarter-final all 4 games are played in 1 day (2 in afternoon and 2 in the evening), both semi-final is played in 1 evening session and the final is played on New Year’s Day at 7.15pm. The first 3 rounds are a first to 3 sets, Round of 16 a first to 4 sets, the quarter-finals is a first to 5 sets, semi-finals is a first to 6 sets, and the final is a first to 7 sets. The top 64 players in the Order of Merit automatically qualifies alongside 16 wildcards and 16 qualifiers with the tournament split into 4 sections. Top 32 players are seeded and play in Round 2, with the rest playing in Round 1.

The 16 wildcard places are awarded to: The 12 qualifier places are awarded to: The final 4 places are determined at the Metrodome in Barnsley, this is known as the 'playoff qualifier' and is open to any tour card holder who hasn't qualified yet.
 * (Semi-finalist outside the top 64)
 * Top 4 players in the Challenge Tour Order of Merit
 * Top 4 players in the Youth Tour Order of Merit
 * Top 4 players in the European Development Tour Order of Merit
 * Top 2 players in the North American Pro Tour Order of Merit
 * Top 2 players in the Asian Tour Order of Merit
 * Winner of the Oceanic Masters
 * Winner of the North American Championship
 * Winner of the Irish Matchplay (players from Rep. of Ireland & Northern Ireland)
 * Winner of the African Masters
 * Winner of the South America Championship
 * Winner of the Central and East Europe Qualifier
 * Winner of the North Europe Qualifier
 * Winner of the South Europe Qualifier
 * Winner of the West Europe Qualifier
 * Winner of the West Asia Qualifier
 * Winner of the East Asia Qualifier
 * Winner of the UK Masters (players from Wales, Scotland & England)

Averages
An average over 100 in a match in the PDC World Championship has since been achieved 200 times. This is compared to 21 times in the BDO World Championship, following the 2020 event. In 2010 Phil Taylor became the first player to average over 100 in all 6 rounds of the tournament. He repeated this feat (though lost the final) in 2015 and Michael van Gerwen achieved it in 2017 and 2019. An average of over 105 in a match in the PDC World Championship has been achieved 40 times.

Records

 * Most titles: 14, Phil Taylor, a record across both organisations (PDC and BDO).
 * Most finals: 17, Phil Taylor, 1994–1996, 1998–2007, 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2018.
 * Most match wins: 104, Phil Taylor, 1994–2018. Taylor has only lost 11 matches at the tournament and reached every final from 1994 until 2008.
 * Longest unbeaten run:
 * Most 180s in a tournament (total): 828 in 2018. This was the first tournament to feature a 96 player field.
 * Most 180s in a tournament (individual): 71, Gary Anderson (2017)
 * Most 180s in a match: 22, Gary Anderson (2017 final)
 * Most 180s in a match (both players): 42, Gary Anderson (22) and Michael van Gerwen (20) (2017 final)
 * Longest streak of 100+ averages: 19 matches, Michael van Gerwen, 2016–2019
 * Most appearances: 28, Phil Taylor.
 * Youngest player: Mitchell Clegg, 16 years and 37 days. Clegg qualified as a 15-year-old in 2007. He was younger than Michael van Gerwen, who set the BDO World Championship youngest player record a few weeks later.
 * Youngest finalist: Eric Bristow, 18 years old in the 1973 final
 * Record TV audience: 1,500,000 (2015 Final). The 2007 final was the first time that Sky Sports achieved a viewing figure of over 1 million for a darts match. The 2013 final had a 1.2 million average, with 10 million viewers over the course of the tournament.
 * Won both World Championships: 9 players in total (6 players since 1993). Eric Bristow, Dennis Priestly, Phil Taylor, John Part, Richie Burnett, Raymond van Barneveld, Mark Webster, Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen have since matched the feat.
 * Overseas World Champions: Three players. John Part was the first player from outside the UK to win the PDC World Championship with his 2003 title, followed by Raymond van Barneveld in 2007 and Michael van Gerwen in 2014. Part was also the first overseas player to win the BDO title, doing so in 1994.

Television coverage
1972–1977: Yorkshire Television

1978–1993: BBC

1994–2017: Sky Sports

2018–present: Sky Sports and BBC