A darts star leaked his own payslip to show much players earn from competing at the World Darts Championship.
Darts is in a huge boom again thanks in large part to the huge rise of 18-year-old sensation Luke Littler, who won the 2025 tournament and became the youngest ever darts world champion when he went all the way and thrashed Michael van Gerwen in the final.
96 players participated and a prize fund of £2.5 million was available. But there was also the addition of an exciting incentive whereby any player who hits a nine-darter would be entitled to receive a £60,000 bonus as part of a campaign involving sponsors Paddy Power. Damon Heta and Christian Kist both collected the huge sums for their exploits on the oche, while Littler as the winner was the biggest earner as he scooped £500,000 for winning at Alexandra Palace.
How much do darts players earn?
Former player Matthew Edgar shared a video on TikTok explaining just how the salary works when competing on the very biggest stage in darts.
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He appeared in the competition on three occasions, reaching to the first round twice and then getting to his second round in 2021. He earned £30,000 overall from his appearances- made up of two £7,500 payments and one to the tune of £15,000.
But after sharing his official remittance notice from the PDC, Edgar explained that there were a number of deductions which reduced the fee he came out with overall.
"That doesn't mean what you get paid as a player," the 38-year-old stated.
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"There are deductions which need to come off this. All PDC players are self-employed contractors, not employes of the PDC and so we get remittance notices. We get deductions, two per cent is your PDC levy - that comes off everything before you even get it and comes from playing on the Challenge tour to being world champion.
"We all pay two per cent on our prize money before we even get it. Not only that, you've got to consider your membership fees - £500 is your membership which goes before you even get it. That's a once a year fee and your DRA fee as well.
"£6,800 is what came into my bank account from the first round defeat. From that, I've got to deduct my travel, my hotel and any other costs with that. Then, the money that is left is open to tax."
With all the deductions factored in, Edgar estimated that he made around £5,200 when he made the first round.
PDC announces huge change to prize money
£500,000 was the sum Littler made from his win and Van Gerwen took £200,000 in line with PDC's prize money breakdown since 2019.
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However, the PDC have announced a monumental change will see the the total money DOUBLED. With the incredible rise of darts, PDC chairman Eddie Hearn confirmed that the winner will be paid a whopping £1 million, as well as an increase in the overall pot to £5 million.
On X, Hearn said: "We are proud to announce this HUGE news.. @OfficialPDC will increase the prize money by £7m+ to £25m next year. The World Champion winner will now receive £1 million & the event will expand to £5m prize money and 128 players.
"Prize funds will be increased across all levels within the PDC with unprecedented investment as the sport continues to rise into a true global powerhouse!"
2026 World Darts Championship prize funds
Winner: £1,000,000
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Runner-Up: £400,000
Semi-Finalists: £200,000
Quarter-Finalists: £100,000
Last 16 losers: £60,000
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Last 32 losers: £35,000
Last 64 losers: £25,000
Last 128 losers: £15,000
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Josh Lawless