Just How Much Can Darts Players Earn?

After just recently investigating whether snooker was an affordable profession for those wishing to win World Championships at the Crucible Theatre, we believed it might make good sense to make a comparable case for those males and females 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 greatest reward pot of the year can be won and what better way to commemorate a new 12 months than by earning a large sum of cash at the start.

The masterpiece occasion of the year and the greatest reward money on offer at any stage, The PDC World Championship - By TWsk - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85102750

While large can be determined in pounds, ₤ 500,000 to be exact. That is the figure that is afforded to the winner of the darts’ showpiece occasion and the last person to get this monetary flexibility was Luke Littler in 2025.

However, not everybody can be proud enough to call themselves as the very best darts player on the planet and although the winner gets a cool half million pounds for their efforts, a very first round departee will just make ₤ 7,500 by comparison.

To get a much better concept of possible earnings, here is the breakdown of the significant ranking television occasions and PDC Pro Tour events and the prize cash that is paid for. Everyone desires the greatest prizes on deal, some may need to more than happy with whatever they can earn along the method.

Obviously, the topic of earnings is essential to any man or lady who tosses arrows for a living and ultimately all of it come down to trying to make a living. Not only to pay the expenses, however to also get a much better ranking the PDC’s Order of Merit.

The Order of Merit is a rolling two-year earnings list that affords those at the higher end to the much better paying tournaments. The more you earn over that rolling duration, the more most likely you are to appear at Alexandra Palace.

For example, here are there essential cut off points for three of the most significant yearly competitors:

Players receive certain telecasted ranking occasions based on 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 top 32 is the most essential cut-off point of all and here is what the list currently appears like at the time of writing:

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

The only two guys to exceed more than ₤ 1m in revenues throughout the allocated duration and with former World Champion Michael Van Gerwen having some work to do if he also wishes to clear this limit as the Dutchman presently has simply brief of ₤ 800k incomes 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 third after having actually earned ₤ 779k, Rob Cross is 4th having actually earned ₤ 566,000 over the previous two years. Not a figure that the Englishman will decline however one that highlights where the variations begin to start.

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

Who’s hitting bullseye in incomes?

We also understand that the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix just accept the top 16 highest earners at their respective cut off dates, Gary Anderson with ₤ 428,250 to his name will hope it gets here rather quickly, as 17th placed and 2023 World Champion Michael Smith Jose De Sousa is only ₤ 17,250 behind.

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

These are the gamers who will make the big tournaments without breaking a sweat but where does the sweating come around when players are beginning to pay their expenses. If we take the UK’s average wage as ₤ 33,000, 2 years at this rate would require a gamer to make ₤ 66,000.

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

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

Although Tricole is simply under the incomes limit, sponsorships are most likely to keep him in steady financial health. This may also have to be balanced out versus visiting costs, but after just missing out by ₤ 3,000 you get the feeling Thibault is not going to be retiring anytime quickly.

Getting into the huge competitions is a breeze for top gamers, but paying the bills? Not so easy!

With that stated, just 64 players being able to beat the UK average salary is a somewhat distressing issue, there is no doubt that darts has evolved from leisure activity to sport however the elephant in the space is whether it is growing fast enough.

In fairness that growth can also be measured by the reality that 96 gamers make their way to Alexandra Palace each year intending for a shot of glory and each of them will take home a minimum benefit of ₤ 7,500.

But what if we took a look at the 96th gamer in the existing Order of Merit and saw how their incomes compared:

For instance, If we take a look at the revenues of Justin Hood in 96th it does not make for particularly excellent reading. He has actually presently earned an average of ₤ 3,750 - a figure that is less than a very first round exit of the World Championship.

An Exception

Matt Edgar - Darts Professional and OLBG Darts Expert

The toil is even worse if you are Thomas Lovely who complete the leading 100. With ₤ 5,250 earned during the present Order of Merit cycle, this relates to simply ₤ 2,625 a year. Far short of the ₤ 33,000 which is the UK’s typical income.

Not only that, however the lower down the darts totem pole, the lower the sponsorship offers can command in worth and if Thibault Tricole can get by on an extra monetary inducement, the exact same can not be stated for Lovely in 100th.

Something that utilized to suggest that if you get into the leading 64 you can start to begin imagining quiting the day task and in turn, you can likewise dream about dominating the world. Now however, with the pro trip now set to go mid week, it will be a choice between the task and the career. Whereas previously, darts’ weekend warriors would rack up the tour cash prize, midweek matches are a different proposal and if players wish to play all the upcoming schedule, a minimum of 2 months off a year is impractical. Now that dream about dominating the world may need to be put on the back burner if the sums do not checkout.