Clog almighty Michael van Gerwen says the £600,000 gap between the next world champion and runner-up is too wide. Van Gerwen, who has lost the last two finals at Alexandra Palace, welcomed darts’ explosion in the big money league, with the next man to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy raking in a cool £1 million.
Last month, Professional Darts Corporation president Barry Hearn announced a 25 per cent rise in prize money on the circuit to £25m.
And when Luke Littler defends his title at Ally Pally, where he won £500,000 as champion four months ago, he will be going for darts’ first seven-figure payday.
But the 2026 runner-up at Ally Pally will receive £400,000 – less than half the winner’s loot – and MVG says the disparity is too harsh when it could boil down to a single dart.
Three years ago, Joe Cullen missed the most expensive dart in history when he wired double 16 to pip Van Gerwen in a thrilling Premier League play-off final.
The Dutchman stepped up to clinch victory with his next throw and take the £275,000 top prize, with Cullen collecting £125,000 as runner-up. Potentially, Cullen’s £150,000 miss could be dwarfed if the Ally Pally final goes down to sudden death – and Van Gerwen has spotted a glitch in the system.
The three-times world champion said: “In my opinion, the reward for second place should never be lower than half of the top prize – you don’t see it in other sports. The PDC did really well to make this happen (£1m for winning a tournament) and it’s a dream for everyone.
“You can never win too much money, but if you ask me if it distorts the rankings system (which is based on prize money over a two-year cycle), I would say yes. But then, who am I to make the rules?
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“There are always things you can disagree with or moan about, but I think we can be proud of the way they have come up with big increases.”
At Wimbledon, the men’s and ladies’ singles champions receive £2.7 million each, with the runner-up taking £1.4m – just over half the winner’s prize money. But at the Crucible, this year’s world snooker champion will pick up £500,000 with the runner-up banking £200,000 – the same ratio as the top two at the PDC World Championship.
With more praise money on offer, the PDC’s top seeds can afford to pick and choose events to skip on the schedule. Van Gerwen has announced he will miss the Australian leg of the World Series tour this summer, but he will play at the showpiece event at New York’s Madison Square Garden in June.
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