Luke Humphries appears to reveal seven-figure prize that he and Luke Littler will fight for in 2026 World Darts Championship
World darts number one Luke Humphries has revealed to talkSPORT that this year’s world champion will pocket a staggering £1million. Humphries, the 2024 champion, was discussing Luke Littler wanting to take his place at the top of the rankings when he made the revelation. Littler made the revelation on talkSPORT Teen phenomenon Littler was this year’s champion and took home £500,000, but that figure is now set to double, according to Humphries. Asked what he thinks of ‘The Nuke’ wanting to take his spot as world number one, Humphries told talkSPORT Darts: “Not much really, I’m not fighting desperately to be world number one, I’d rather be world champion, which he is, so for him I’m sure he’d be more happy to be world champion than world number one. “For me it doesn’t matter what happens in the next six, seven, eight months, it’s all about the world championships, we all know that the world champion is going to get a million quid, so whoever wins that is going to be world number one. “If I win that I’ll be world number one for a long time, if Luke wins that he’s going to be world number one for a long time. “You can look at someone like Michael van Gerwen or Gerwyn Price winning it, they’ll be number one, so it really does not matter what happens over the next seven or eight months, it’s who wins the worlds that will carry that number one spot. “The gap between the other majors is so massive that it all depends on who wins the worlds now so whoever wins that championship I can guarantee that they will probably be number one.” PDC chairman and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn had earlier expressed his desire to make the winning prize £1m. Speaking in 2021 after taking over the role at the top of darts from his father Barry, Hearn said: “The great thing about my old man is that all he ever thinks about is how can we provide more opportunities for dart players. How can we make them wealthier, how can we reward them? “During the Covid period the PDC didn’t touch prize money, they continued to provide opportunities for players. “I would love to make the World Championship a million pound first prize, that’s the general crazy plan that we’ll always talk about in board meetings. Littler took home £500,000 in 2025 but can double that in 2026AFP “People relate prize money to the stature and size of the sport. If you ask a man in the street how much you get for winning the Worlds in darts, he’d probably say about 10 grand or 25 grand. “So we have to make sure that people are aware of that. People can’t believe how much darts players make. But that’s going to continue to grow from a grass roots level. “You can follow a dream as a kid to be a footballer. But it’s unusual for a kid to dream of being a darts player. But we know if opportunities are there to play on TV and win major prize money, it does become a more fruitful career. “I think the job they have done on prize money is sensational. The Ally Pally is the flagship event and it should always remain that way. “New territories that are coming in and looking to make a splash, want to make a splash with a big prize pool which ultimately is a fantastic opportunity for the players.” This year’s prize fund for all players was £2,500,000, with the split going from half a million for winner Littler down to £7500 for those defeated in the first round. Watch the full interview with Luke Humphries on our dedicated talkSPORT Darts channel.
World darts number one Luke Humphries has revealed to talkSPORT that this year’s world champion will pocket a staggering £1million.
Humphries, the 2024 champion, was discussing Luke Littler wanting to take his place at the top of the rankings when he made the revelation.
Teen phenomenon Littler was this year’s champion and took home £500,000, but that figure is now set to double, according to Humphries.
Asked what he thinks of ‘The Nuke’ wanting to take his spot as world number one, Humphries told talkSPORT Darts: “Not much really, I’m not fighting desperately to be world number one, I’d rather be world champion, which he is, so for him I’m sure he’d be more happy to be world champion than world number one.
“For me it doesn’t matter what happens in the next six, seven, eight months, it’s all about the world championships, we all know that the world champion is going to get a million quid, so whoever wins that is going to be world number one.
“If I win that I’ll be world number one for a long time, if Luke wins that he’s going to be world number one for a long time.
“You can look at someone like Michael van Gerwen or Gerwyn Price winning it, they’ll be number one, so it really does not matter what happens over the next seven or eight months, it’s who wins the worlds that will carry that number one spot.
“The gap between the other majors is so massive that it all depends on who wins the worlds now so whoever wins that championship I can guarantee that they will probably be number one.”
PDC chairman and boxing promoter Eddie Hearn had earlier expressed his desire to make the winning prize £1m.
Speaking in 2021 after taking over the role at the top of darts from his father Barry, Hearn said: “The great thing about my old man is that all he ever thinks about is how can we provide more opportunities for dart players. How can we make them wealthier, how can we reward them?
“During the Covid period the PDC didn’t touch prize money, they continued to provide opportunities for players.
“I would love to make the World Championship a million pound first prize, that’s the general crazy plan that we’ll always talk about in board meetings.
“People relate prize money to the stature and size of the sport. If you ask a man in the street how much you get for winning the Worlds in darts, he’d probably say about 10 grand or 25 grand.
“So we have to make sure that people are aware of that. People can’t believe how much darts players make. But that’s going to continue to grow from a grass roots level.
“You can follow a dream as a kid to be a footballer. But it’s unusual for a kid to dream of being a darts player. But we know if opportunities are there to play on TV and win major prize money, it does become a more fruitful career.
“I think the job they have done on prize money is sensational. The Ally Pally is the flagship event and it should always remain that way.
“New territories that are coming in and looking to make a splash, want to make a splash with a big prize pool which ultimately is a fantastic opportunity for the players.”
This year’s prize fund for all players was £2,500,000, with the split going from half a million for winner Littler down to £7500 for those defeated in the first round.
Watch the full interview with Luke Humphries on our dedicated talkSPORT Darts channel.
