Decision made over future World Darts Championship venue with capacity set be boosted by 70,000

ALLY PALLY will host the PDC World Darts Championship until at least 2031.

The North London Palace will remain the home of the flagship event following a new five-year deal agreed between darts officials and venue bosses.

It ends speculation that the Worlds could move to somewhere else in London or even be taken abroad.

And in a significant move in the sport’s history, the playing arena will move into the Great Hall from the 2026-27 event onwards.

The upgraded venue will boost total capacity to around 180,000, an increase of more than 70,000 on the 2025-26 Worlds, which start next week.

This will mean each individual session will contain more than 5,000 fans.

At present, the room for darts’ festive-season pilgrimage holds 3,300 supporters.

It is a landmark decision and shows the popularity of the sport – and the PDC’s confidence that they can sell out tickets for an event that now last longer than the Olympic Games.

Luke Littler, 18, will defend his title on Thursday December 11 against Darius Labanauskas in the first round and there is £1million on the table for the 2026 world champion.

For this Christmas, the Championships have expanded to a 128-player field and this has meant an extra four days of action.

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS

The first winner of the Sid Waddell Trophy at Ally Pally was Canadian John Part on January 1, 2008, when he thrashed Englishman Kirk Shepherd 7-2.

The tournament had previously been held at the Circus Tavern in Pufleet, Essex, and the last visit there will go down as the sport’s greatest final.

Raymond van Barneveld became a five-time world champion as he edged out Phil Taylor in a last-leg shootout in 2007.