World Matchplay
Nine days at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, in a room with no air conditioning, in July. The players call it the toughest week of the year and they are not being polite about it.
18 to 26 July 2026
The next edition is not on the calendar we hold yet. It will appear on the schedule once the PDC confirms the dates.
The Matchplay is the purest test on the calendar. No sets to hide behind, no double start, just a long race in legs against one opponent in front of a crowd close enough to touch.
The Winter Gardens is a Victorian ballroom rather than an arena, which is exactly why it works. It is hot, loud and cramped, and a player who is struggling has nowhere to go.
The format
- Played in legs, and you must win by two clear legs.
- First round is first to 11 legs, second round first to 13, quarter-finals first to 16, semi-finals first to 17 and the final first to 18.
- If nobody has established a two-leg lead after six extra legs, it goes to a sudden-death leg. That rule has been in place since 2013 and it is why the Matchplay produces finishes people still talk about years later.
How players qualify
- The top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit are seeded.
- The remaining places go to the highest-ranked players on the one-year ProTour Order of Merit who have not already qualified.
Past winners
The last 10 champions, most recent first.
Luke Littler beat Gerwyn Price 18-9 in the 2026 final, averaging 111.53. That is a brutal number over a match of that length.
How to watch
Shown live in the UK on Sky Sports. That means a Sky Sports subscription, or NOW. The schedule page lists which broadcaster has each event.
Tickets
The Winter Gardens is small, so sessions sell fast. Tickets go through the PDC ticket shop and the venue box office. There is more on outlets, the ballot and what to avoid on the darts tickets page.
The other majors
Also here: the world rankings, the full schedule, and a free scoreboard for your own game.
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