Barry Hearn reveals plans to expand PDC World Championship field to 128 players
Barry Hearn pictured with the World Championship trophy (Photo by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
Barry Hearn has revealed the PDC World Darts Championship field will be expanded from 96 players to 128 next year in an effort to satisfy demand for tickets.
Former PDC Chairman Hearn, now president of Matchroom Sport, says an extra eight sessions will be added to the schedule across four days, allowing for up to 25,000 more fans.
This year’s World Darts Championship sold out in record time, with 90,000 tickets snapped up inside 15 minutes from fans across the globe.
Hearn, 76, has also refused to rule out the possibility of the tournament eventually moving away from Alexandra Palace – which has hosted the sport’s showpiece since 2007.
“For the World Championship this year, 90,000 tickets sold out in 15 minutes,” Hearn told TalkSport.
“I asked my people in head office, ‘tell me, how many could I have sold?’
“They said, somewhere over 300,000. Now that puts a different emphasis on it. Same as when we moved from the Circus Tavern all those years ago, now I’m looking at Alexandra Palace.
“And I’m saying, well, it only holds 3,500. I have to grow all the time. If you ever get complacent you go backwards.
“So, next year we will go from 96 to 128 players. We will add four more days, which is eight sessions, which is another 25,000 tickets.
“Sooner or later, I should be looking and saying: ‘Do you know, like with snooker, I need a bigger venue.’ I mean I can sell out any arena in the world. But can I do it for 30 or 40 sessions?
“That’s the key issue because the atmosphere makes it a great night.”
The field was last expanded in 2018 from 72 players to 96, with the world’s top 32 ranked players entering at the Second Round stage.
Increasing the field to 128 is likely to mean the event would revert to a flat draw format, with all players entering at the First Round and seven wins required to claim the title.
Sky Sports have broadcast the tournament since its inception in December 1993 and the news of an expanded field could coincide with an announcement of a new Sky deal, with the current contract due to expire in 2025.
In September, Hearn urged Sky to ‘raise the ante’ over contract negotiations, insisting the broadcaster must reflect the sport’s growing value in its negotiations or risk losing the rights to other interested parties.
Meanwhile, ITV’s PDC Darts deal also expires next year, with the broadcaster having penned a new one-year extension in September.
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