Where is the World Matchplay darts? The World Matchplay is held in the Empress Ballroom, at the Winter Gardens, in Blackpool.

The World Matchplay is the biggest and most prestigious darts tournament of the summer, with the world’s best players competing for £800,000 in prize money. First held in 1994, the World Matchplay is put on by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) every July at the iconic Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

The 2025 edition of the World Matchplay marks the 32nd staging of the popular competition and will take place over nine days from July 19-27. This year’s tournament will feature the 2024 winner Luke Humphries, reigning PDC world champion Luke Littler and the 2007 winner James Wade, who makes his 20th consecutive appearance in the World Matchplay.

The World Matchplay darts tournament is the second longest-running major event on the PDC calendar. It has been held every year since 1994 and is classed as one of the three legs of the ‘Triple Crown’, along with the PDC World Darts Championship and Premier League events. To date, Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries are the only four players to have completed the ‘Triple Crown’ and won all three tournaments.

The World Matchplay is the third ranking major event of the season. The recently revamped World Masters and the UK Open are the first two ranking majors played each year and includes all 128 PDC tour card holders, whilst the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts, Players Championship Finals and World Darts Championship all have more restricted fields.

Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts celebrates after winning the first sudden-death leg in World Matchplay history in 2018

One of the unique parts of the World Matchplay is that matches have to be won by two clear legs, but only up to a certain point before a sudden-death leg is played to determine the winner.

Up until 2012, there was no limit on how long matches could go on for and it led to some marathon contests. In 1994, Jim Watkins beat Keith Deller 18-16 in a second-round tie which was initially a race to eight legs but went long into overtime due to the ‘must win by two clear legs’ rule.

In 2013, the PDC altered the format to introduce a sudden-death leg if a two-leg lead had not been reached after six extra legs. This new ruling first came into play during the 2018 tournament, when Kim Huybrechts defeated John Henderson 13-12 in the first round.

Here is a breakdown of the World Matchplay’s current format:-

• Round 1 – first to 10 legs (match must be won by two clear legs, sudden death leg at 12-12)
• Round 2 – first to 11 legs (match must be won by two clear legs, sudden death leg at 13-13)
• Quarter-finals – first to 16 legs (match must be won by two clear legs, sudden death leg at 18-18)
• Semi-finals – first to 17 legs (match must be won by two clear legs, sudden death leg at 19-19)
• Final – first to 18 legs (match must be won by two clear legs, sudden death leg at 20-20)

The World Matchplay is regarded as one of the toughest events to qualify for with the field restricted to just 32 players. The top 16 players on the PDC World Rankings and the next top 16 players on the PDC ProTour Rankings (on a specified cut-off date around late June/early July) make up the line-up in Blackpool each year.

The 16 players from the World Rankings are seeded with their seeding positions based on where they sit in the rankings. The 16 ProTour qualifiers enter the tournament as the non-seeded players and will be drawn against a seeded player in the first round.

The World Matchplay darts 2025 lineup is one of the strongest yet, with the 2024 PDC world champion Luke Humphries joined by the likes of Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross. The list of ProTour qualifiers includes former world champion Raymond van Barneveld, plus exciting talent like Mike De Decker, Martin Schindler and Josh Rock.

The World Matchplay trophy is one of the most lucrative titles to win in darts with a winner’s cheque of £200,000.

The prize money for the World Matchplay has risen many times during its 30-year history. The first edition of the World Matchplay in 1994 had a prize fund of £42,400, including £10,000 for the winner. The total prize money has changed over time with several increases, the latest one coming in 2022 when the prize fund increased to £800,000, with £200,000 going to the champion.

All of the prize money is added to the PDC World Rankings. Luke Humphries' title success in 2024 helped him increase his lead as world number one, having already entered the tournament as the top seed.

Below is the World Matchplay darts prize money breakdown for 2025:-

Winner - £200,000

Runner-up - £100,000

Semi-finalists - £50,000

Quarter-finalists - £30,000

Round 2 (last 16) - £15,000

Round 1 (last 32 - £10,000

The World Matchplay has a rich history in darts that dates back to the mid-1990s.The inaugural staging of the tournament was held in 1994 and saw America’s Larry Butler beat Dennis Priestley 16-12 to win the title.

Butler’s landmark success saw him become the first American player to win a major darts event. Over the next 30 years, more history has been written in this prestigious competition, including some of the most memorable matches and moments in darts, which you can celebrate with our 30 Years Of The World Matchplay blog series.

The World Matchplay is held inside the Empress Ballroom, which is part of the Winter Gardens Blackpool complex. The venue is steeped in darts history having played host to all but one edition of the World Matchplay, that being in 2020 during the pandemic. The Marshall Arena, in Milton Keynes, was the host venue for the tournament that year and games were played without a crowd.

The Empress Ballroom was built in 1896. As well as the World Matchplay, it has also played host to many other pivotal events during its long history. The Rolling Stones and Queen are amongst the bands to have performed in the venue, and it has also hosted political party conferences for the UK’s major political parties.

Here is a list of World Matchplay darts winners since its first staging in 1994. Phil Taylor dominated the tournament during his playing career, winning 16 of the first 24 editions, whilst Rod Harrington and Michael van Gerwen are the only other multi-time champions. Luke Humphries became the 13th different winner with his success at the Winter Gardens in 2024.

World Matchplay roll of honour

1994 – Larry Butler

1995 – Phil Taylor

1996 – Peter Evison

1997 – Phil Taylor

1998 – Rod Harrington

1999 – Rod Harrington

2000 – Phil Taylor

2001 – Phil Taylor

2002 – Phil Taylor

2003 – Phil Taylor

2004 – Phil Taylor

2005 – Colin Lloyd

2006 – Phil Taylor

2007 – James Wade

2008 – Phil Taylor

2009 – Phil Taylor

2010 – Phil Taylor

2011 – Phil Taylor

2012 – Phil Taylor

2013 – Phil Taylor

2014 – Phil Taylor

2015 – Michael van Gerwen

2016 – Michael van Gerwen

2017 – Phil Taylor

2018 – Gary Anderson

2019 – Rob Cross

2020 – Dimitri Van den Bergh

2021 – Peter Wright

2022 – Michael van Gerwen

2023 – Nathan Aspinall

2024 – Luke Humphries

Phil Taylor’s long-running success in the World Matchplay saw the tournament’s trophy renamed after him when he retired from the professional tour in 2018. Players now compete each year for ‘The Phil Taylor Trophy’, a nod to his incredible record in the tournament which he won for the last time during his final year on the tour in 2017.

As seen above in the list of World Matchplay winners, ‘The Power’ won the competition 16 times – a record which is unlikely to ever be matched by another player. The first of Taylor’s 16 World Matchplay titles came in the second edition in 1995, before he would enjoy two extraordinary winning streaks at the Winter Gardens. From 2000 to 2004, he went on a five-year title winning run, which he surpassed with a sequence of seven consecutive titles between 2008 and 2014.

At the 2002 World Matchplay, Taylor made history by throwing the first nine-dart leg on live UK television, achieving perfection during his quarter-final win against Chris Mason. He holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in the competition, winning 38 matches from 2008 to 2015, along with the highest match average in the event’s history – 114.99 which he threw in the first round in 2010.

Luke Humphries wrote his name in the darts history books when he won his first World Matchplay title in 2024. 'Cool Hand' defeated Michael van Gerwen 18-15 in the final and joined the great Phil Taylor as only the second player to average more than 100 in all five matches on the way to the title.

The top seed kicked off his title-winning campaign at the Winter Gardens with a 108.76 average in beating Germany's Ricardo Pietreczko 10-4 in the first round. Humphries followed that up with 102.34, 101.21 and 100.64 averages in victories over Stephen Bunting (11-7), Dimitri Van den Bergh (16-10) and James Wade (17-10), before posting his fifth 100+ average, a 100.94, as he edged past van Gerwen in the final.

Reflecting on lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy for the first time, Humphries said: "This is a title that everybody dreams of winning. It's an incredible feeling. I'm elated, and I could see by the celebrations that my family were too. When you're playing in a tournament over such a long format, it's really difficult to hit 100+ averages every time, and I needed to play at that level. For me to hit five ton-plus averages on the trot against some quality opposition - I'm really pleased with that. It's an elite club and I'm proud to be a part of it."

The next instalment of the World Matchplay is almost upon us as 32 of the world’s top players get ready to battle it out for the Phil Taylor Trophy. The 2025 World Matchplay takes place from July 19-27 at the Winter Gardens, in Blackpool and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.

Wessel Nijman and Cameron Menzies are the two debutants in the World Matchplay in 2025. Check out our ‘World Matchplay Best Debuts’ blog to see our list of the top 10 debuts in the tournament’s history. Shop our ‘World Matchplay’ collection and support your favourite stars competing in Blackpool with their signature darts and accessories. Check out our full range of dartboards, darts shirts, dart flights and darts cases to complete your darts setup.

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Pictures: PDC