The PDC World Darts Championship is set for a major shake-up starting with the 2025-25 edition, according to Barry Hearn, with the option of potentially leaving Alexandra Palace being explored.
The WDC has been hosted by Alexandra Palace for the past 17 years, after the sport's now-flagship event first took place at the Circus Tavern in Essex in 1993-94 with only 24 competitors.
As such, Ally Pally has become an almost indelible figure in some of the great WDC finals of all time, and has been the host of some truly memorable moments in the competition's history.
But now veteran promoter and Matchroom president Hearn has revealed that he is open to the idea of moving away from the iconic north London venue in order to accommodate an increasing demand for tickets.
This year's competition will see 96 competitors after an increase from 72 back in December 2018, though tickets were still sold out within 15 minutes according to Hearn for the 16-day event.
Next year, though, there will be a huge growth in competitors as the WDC goes up by another 32 to 128, meaning eight more sessions over four extra days and an increased demand for tickets - which are already selling out at the drop of a hat.
'For the world championship this year, 90,000 tickets sold out in 15 minutes,' Hearn told Jeff Stelling's talkSPORT breakfast show. 'I asked my people in head office, "tell me, how many could I have sold?"
'They said, somewhere over 300,000. Now that puts a different emphasis on it.
'Same as when we moved from the Circus Tavern all those years ago, now I'm looking at Alexandra Palace.
'And I'm saying, well, it only holds 3,500. I have to grow all the time. If you ever get complacent you go backwards.
'So, next year we will go from 96 to 128 players. We will add four more days, which is eight sessions, which is another 25,000 tickets.
'Sooner or later, I should be looking and saying: "Do you know, like with snooker, I need a bigger venue."
'I mean I can sell out any arena in the world. But can I do it for 30 or 40 sessions?
'That's the key issue because the atmosphere makes it a great night. We sold 1,500 tickets for the Premier League final this year.
'And we advertised it that you cannot see the stage from these seats. People bought the tickets. They wanted to be a part of the show.'
Last year's WDC saw Luke Littler emerge onto the scene as a teenage sensation who made it all the way to the grand final, before cementing his status as one of the game's biggest stars throughout 2024.
As such, a new audience has taken an interest in darts, which has only grown the popularity of the sport.
It comes after Hearn warned Sheffield City Council its days of staging the World Snooker Championship are numbered unless the Crucible is ripped down and replaced with a bigger capacity venue earlier this year.
Hearn, the former World Snooker chairman, says there is no room for sentiment when the venue's current deal expires in 2027 - its 50th anniversary of staging the Championships - adding: 'It's all about the money.'
Speculation over the future of the venue was sparked in the build-up to this year's tournament by seven-time winner Ronnie O'Sullivan, who suggested it should be moved to either Saudi Arabia or China in order to maximise profit potential.
