The 2027 PDC World Darts Championship starts on 11 December 2026 and wraps up with the final on 3 January 2027, once again at Alexandra Palace in London. Here are the dates, the 128-player format, the prize money, defending champion Luke Littler and the other contenders, plus what time you need to be awake to watch from Taiwan.
2027 PDC World Darts Championship dates and venue
Play runs from 11 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, right through Christmas and New Year, with a few days off in between. The venue is still the "Ally Pally", Alexandra Palace in north London. One thing is new: after 19 years in the West Hall, the tournament moves into the bigger Great Hall, the first time the Worlds have been played there.
128 players and a £5 million prize fund
The field grew from 96 to 128 players last year, and that stays. The top 32 in the world rankings are seeded, but they now play in the first round instead of getting a bye. Here is how the spots are filled:
- Top 40 on the two-year PDC Order of Merit
- The next 40 from the one-year Pro Tour Order of Merit
- 48 international qualifiers (Asian Tour, regional qualifiers, the Women's Series and more)
Total prize money is £5 million. The champion takes £1 million, the runner-up £400,000, and even a first-round loss pays £15,000. The final is best of 13 sets.
Can Luke Littler win three in a row?
We will not know until 3 January, but he is the clear favourite. Luke Littler won the title at 17 in 2025, then defended it last time by beating Gian van Veen 7-1 in the final. In 2026 he added the Masters, the UK Open, the Premier League and the World Matchplay, won the World Cup with Humphries, and is comfortably world number one. Another title would make him the first player since Phil Taylor to win three PDC World Championships in a row. His full story is in who is Luke Littler.
Who else can win: Humphries, van Veen and the talking points
- Luke Humphries: world number two and the 2024 world champion, who met Littler in several finals in 2026. How he came through anxiety to reach the top is in who is Luke Humphries, and their head-to-head is in the two Lukes rivalry.
- Gian van Veen: last year's runner-up, who knocked out Humphries 5-1 in the quarter-finals with a 105.41 average and is now world number three.
- Beau Greaves: in April 2026 she became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title, and she has already qualified. Read more in our Beau Greaves profile.
Players from Taiwan and Asia
As of the qualifier list published at the end of September 2026, several Asian players are confirmed: Japan's Motomu Sakai, Haruki Muramatsu and Ryuta Arihara, the Philippines' Paolo Nebrida and Christian Perez, and Hong Kong's Lok Yin Lee. No Taiwanese player is on the list yet. More places are still to be decided, so check the official PDC list for the final field. To get to know the players closest to us, see players from Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong and Taiwan's darts players.
What time to watch in Taiwan, and where to stream it
The UK is not on summer time in December, so Taiwan is 8 hours ahead of London. In past years the schedule has usually been split into afternoon and evening sessions: afternoon sessions start around 8 or 9 pm Taiwan time, and evening sessions around 3 am. The final is on the evening of Sunday 3 January in London, which is early Monday morning, 4 January, in Taiwan. Double-check once the official schedule is out.
For streaming, regions without an exclusive broadcaster can usually watch on the PDC's own paid service, PDCTV. Places with exclusive TV deals, like the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, are geo-blocked. Whether it is available in Taiwan, and the price, is something to check on the PDCTV site before the tournament.
Want to watch with other people? AI DARTS is in Taipei's East District, open 24 hours, with TVs in the bar, so you can watch a set and then throw a few legs on the Phoenix boards. We have no deal with any broadcaster, though, so which Worlds matches we show is announced on LINE. If you want a specific match, message us on LINE first. For ideas on planning a watch-and-throw night, see watching darts at a darts bar.