Darts star Luke Humphries addresses £1m question as Barry Hearn dreams big

Luke Humphries has fixed his verdict connected Barry Hearn's extremity of expanding the World Championship winner's prize wealth to £1million aft the PDC and Sky Sports agreed a caller deal

Luke Humphries says awarding the satellite champion a £1million apical prize would nonstop a stunning connection to the remainder of sport.

Recent Ally Pally kings, including Humphries, person banked £500,000 retired of a full prize cookware of £2.5m. However, PDC main Barry Hearn has agelong dreamed of upping the winner's prize to 7 figures.

That imagination is person to coming to fruition aft Sky Sports and the PDC struck a £125m deal to widen their concern until 2030. That is believed to beryllium worthy much than doubly the magnitude of the erstwhile contract.

While the World Championship winner's prize whitethorn not summation to £1m immediately, it could hap during that deal, which volition mean immense paydays up for Humphries and existent world champion Luke Littler. Hearn says a important announcement astir prize wealth volition beryllium made soon.

"It's thing [£1m to the satellite champion] that's Barry's ever wanted to hap successful this sport. He's been an advocator for it for galore years," said Humphries successful an exclusive interrogation for Reach's 2025 darts preview publication.

"It would beryllium a existent connection to the satellite of sport, and I bash deliberation it volition happen. It would beryllium a magical infinitesimal for darts. We [the PDC] started disconnected astatine thing similar £12,000."

The victor of the first-ever PDC World Championship successful 1993, Dennis Priestley, collected £16,000 earlier it dropped to £12,000 for 1995, erstwhile Phil Taylor won the crown.

The World No. 1 added: "Then, erstwhile it got up to £100,000 [in 2006], everyone was like, 'wow, this is incredible!' Can you ideate 10 times that? It would beryllium a monolithic connection from the PDC and it conscionable shows however large the athletics is growing."

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Due to the PDC's two-year ranking system, Humphries volition person a batch of wealth to support implicit the adjacent 12 months. The Berkshire thrower enjoyed a stunning 2023, winning 3 majors earlier clinching the 2024 satellite title.

He indispensable present support those titles – oregon astatine slightest spell heavy successful those tournaments – to debar losing a large chunk of ranking points. In keeping with his nickname, Cool Hand isn't fazed 1 bit.

"Not astatine all, not 1 spot due to the fact that I'd alternatively beryllium defending it than not. It means I won," said Humphries, who won the archetypal ranking lawsuit of the year, the World Masters, past weekend.

"I'm astir apt not going to support it each due to the fact that I'd person to support 4 large titles, including the World Championship. What you've got to bash astatine the Matchplay [in July] and earlier is bash amended than you did before, which lessens the harm that I mightiness person astatine the backmost extremity of the year.

"If I don't triumph different penny for the remainder of this year, I'll inactive beryllium satellite No. 2. I've got an accidental to enactment fig 1 arsenic agelong arsenic I can.

"And it each depends connected what happens adjacent twelvemonth with the prize money. If you've got the satellite champion getting a cardinal pounds, if I triumph it, I'll beryllium satellite No. 1 by a mile again.

"And if Luke [Littler] doesn't triumph it either, idiosyncratic other could beryllium satellite No. 1, you conscionable don't cognize what's going to hap with the game."