Busy 2025 Darts Season Will Begin With Its Biggest Masters
Darts’ Masters will become a 32-player ranking event from next year and take place across four days in 2025. The changes to the season-opening tournament are one of many alterations to the Professional Darts Corporation’s calendar. Next year, the European Tour will expand to 14 events, with an additional four one-day Players Championships.
The Masters has become a hugely popular competition since its 2013 introduction. It was initially a 16-player event before expanding to 24 players three years ago. A sell-out success in 2024, this season’s event was won by Stephen Bunting, who overcame five-time winner Michael van Gerwen to win in Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena.
Stephen Bunting took the Masters in 2024. His prize was ￡65,000. Next year, the competition’s prize-money will count towards PDC Order of Merit ranking points. ?Taylor Lanning/PDC
Next year, prize money won in the six-round Masters will count towards the PDC Order of Merit, and it will be the first ranked event of the new campaign. The tournament will also expand to four days, with the first round being held across evening sessions on Thursday, January 30th and Friday, January 31st.
130 Days of Ranked Darts Competition
“The Masters has really grown in stature over the past decade, and this new format will add further importance to what is already a significant event for competing players. The new format means that the 2025 season will begin with a bang as 32 players compete for a ranked title,” said PDC chief executive Matt Porter when announcing the changes.
Over 130 days of PDC-ranked events will take place in 2025, in addition to the PDC’s secondary tours and qualifying events, which will form part of the biggest-ever year on the professional circuit. The year’s action will commence with the PDC Qualifying School from January 6-12th.
The Premier League and Players Championship seasons will begin in February, while the Ladbrokes UK Open will take place from February 28-March 2nd at Butlin’s Minehead Resort. The European Tour gets underway in March in Wieze, Belgium, with the first eight events being held in an action-packed three-month period.
July Dates for Blackpool Matchplay
The popular World Cup of Darts will be held in Frankfurt from June 12-15th. The following month features the Betfred World Matchplay and Women’s World Matchplay in Blackpool from July 19-27th. The competition, won by Luke Humphries in 2024, is considered the second-biggest event on the calendar.
Visits to Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, and Germany see the European Tour conclude in the autumn ahead of the European Championship from October 23-26th in Dortmund. Amsterdam will host the World Series of Darts Finals again, from September 12-14th.
The World Grand Prix will remain in Leicester for 2025 and will be played from October 6-12th, while November will feature the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton and the Players Championship Finals in Minehead ahead of the start of the 2025/26 World Darts Championship in December.
LUKE HUMPHRIES IS WORLD CHAMPION! ??
Darting destiny fulfilled.
The world number one gets over the line against teenage sensation Luke Littler in a thrilling final! pic.twitter.com/IP6pPaWndm
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2024
Humphries Top Dog With Exciting Times Ahead
“2024 has been another year of growth for the PDC circuit, particularly with the addition of two new venues on the European Tour and the move of all Players Championships to midweek, and we will be continuing that expansion next year,” said darts chief Matt Porter. He added: “This is an incredibly exciting time for all darts players, and we’re delighted that we can provide more opportunities than ever for players across our system.”
Darts is entering a busy period; as usual, the sport’s crescendo will be the ￡2.5 million PDC World Darts Championship, which begins on December 15th. The UK bookmakers quote the defending champion, Luke Humpries, on 5/2 odds to retain his crown. 2024’s runner-up, Luke Littler, is 3/1. Michael van Gerwen (6/1), Gerwyn Price (12/1), Michael Smith (14/1), and Rob Cross (20/1) follow in the betting.
