Darts star leaks PDC payslip showing how much players are paid for World Championship

A darts star leaked his payslip from the PDC to show just how payment works when participating in the World Darts Championship.

Pay packets for the tournament vary on performance, with the overall winner collecting a whopping £500,000 for going all the way - and second-placed scooping £200,000.

The overall prize pot stands at around £2.5 million, with losing semi-finalists getting £100,000 and quarter finalists receiving half of that and taking £50,000.

In an exciting initiative for the 2024 showpiece, any player who hits a nine-darter receives a £60,000 bonus as part of a campaign involving sponsors Paddy Power.

But while those amounts are listed by outlets such as The Independent, Matthew Edgar made a video explaining just how the salary works when competing on the very biggest stage.

Edgar appeared in the competition on three occasions, getting to the first round twice and the second round in 2021. He earned £30,000 overall from his exploits - made up of two £7,500 payments and one to the tune £15,000 - at Alexandra Palace.

But after sharing his official remittance notice from the PDC, Edgar explained that he did not come out with that figure.

Matthew Edgar shared his PDC payslip. Image: TikTok/@matthewedgar170

"That doesn't mean what you get paid as a player," the 38-year-old said in a TikTok video which went viral.

"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."

Luke Humphries is the defending PDC World Darts Champion. Image: Getty

Edgar went on to reveal that with all the deductions taken into account, he likely made around £5,200 when he made the first round.

But he described his most successful run into the second round as "even worse" because hotels were required for longer and there were also COVID tests.