The 2025/26 edition of the PDC World Darts Championship has commenced at London’s Alexandra Palace, with Luke Littler, the defending champion, successfully starting his title defense. Littler, hailing from Warrington, secured a 3-0 victory over Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas in the opening round, continuing his impressive form following recent triumphs in various prestigious events like the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam, and Players Championship Finals. This success has solidified his position as the top seed and World Number One for this tournament.
Among the competitors joining Littler at Alexandra Palace are former world champions such as Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price, along with notable players like Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall, James Wade, and Jonny Clayton, making up the expanded 128-player field. The tournament includes top players from the PDC’s Werner Rankings Ladder, ProTour Ranking qualifiers, and International Qualifiers from various PDC Secondary and Affiliate Tours and Qualifying Events.
A highly anticipated storyline of this championship revolves around the potential rematch between Luke Humphries, the 2024 champion, and Littler, who defeated him in the Grand Slam of Darts final last year. A victory for Humphries in this tournament could propel him to the world number one spot, with the champion set to receive a substantial £1 million prize.
All matches of the PDC World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on a single broadcaster. Fans can tune in to watch the tournament sessions starting at 12.30pm and 7pm until the quarter-finals on New Year’s Day, with the semi-finals scheduled for 2 January at 7.30pm and the final on 3 January at 8pm.
Sky Sports is set to exclusively broadcast all the matches of the PDC World Darts Championship, featuring them on the dedicated Sky Sports Darts channel. Additionally, essential matches will be showcased on Sky Sports Main Event, accessible through Sky’s Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle, which offers a range of sports content, including Premier League, EFL, Carabao Cup, and Formula 1, along with popular channels like Sky Atlantic and complimentary subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.
For Virgin Media customers, the darts coverage is available through the Sport bundle, which includes access to over 200 TV channels, Netflix subscription, and high-speed fibre broadband. Both Sky and Virgin Media may have annual price adjustments in their TV packages.
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