What in the world makes Professional Darts so electrifying to watch?

Credi: Dan Istitene

I could not be more locked into professional darts and I am proud to say that! At the end of last year, I saw a few videos of professional darts through social media, and the crowds were electric, the athletes (yes athletes) were into it, and it was easy to follow. As someone who has minor athletic ability, this is a fun sport to watch because you can play it anywhere and picutre yourself doing it. This sport is starting to gain some traction of excitement as the league is traveling to more locations and countries. Let’s dive into some history, top players, and the best places to watch this sport.

What is the PDC? The PDC is the Professional Darts Corporation which is the body that has over 10 million Euros in prize money throughout various tournaments during the year. The PDC has various events and leagues that run through it. Since the sport has large amounts of players of different calibers various leagues are created. To be a top player means you are in the premier league which features some of the top players in the world (8 picked players). The top four players by merit order from the last season get auto bids to be in the league. The other four players are picked by the PDC to participate in the tournament. Normally these are still top players who can add some electricity to the tournament. We have played two events of the Premier League so far with the Bahrain Darts Masters and the TOTO Dutch Darts Masters. Now we head into Premier League nights at various locations.

The other style of tour is: The PDC ProTour of Top players and championship winners. This tour is mainly filled with non-televised (internet-only) tournaments created by the PDC and the Professional Dart Players Association (PDPA). The other leagues are; The Challenge tour of players who did not make the ProTour, then the development tour, the women’s series, and the junior corporation

To play in any PDC Event (Players Championships, UK Open, European tour or select televised events) you need a tour card. These are offered to 128 players who get them from various tours, qualifiers, or merit rankings.

Televised featured events (according to the PDC Website):

• PDC Televised Tournaments

• World Darts Championship

• Premier League Darts

• World Matchplay

• World Grand Prix

• UK Open

• European Championship

• Grand Slam of Darts

• Players Championship Finals

• World Cup of Darts

• The Masters

• World Series of Darts Finals

• World Series of Darts - International Events

To close out this learning session, let’s talk about some of the top players in darts as of January 13th, 2025. The top five players in the world are: Luke Humphries “Cool Hand Luke”, Luke “The Nuke” Littler, Michael van Gerwen “MVG”, Rob Cross “Voltage” (Dutch winner), Stephen Bunting “The Bullet” (Bahrain Winner). There are five of the players who are featured in the premier league. These players bring electricity with their entrances, celebrations, and pure skill to play the sport. 

As I dive into this journey of learning more about the PDC and professional darts, I hope to write more about certain events, players, and features of darts. The next main match is Premier League Night 1 in Belfast on February 6th, 2025. Hopefully, we get an intense matchup and can dive into the rules and follow along.