It’s no secret that top sports stars worldwide earn significant amounts of money doing something they love. But you may have wondered how a darts player’s salary compares to other sports.
As the popularity of darts has grown worldwide, leading to more tournaments and television licensing deals, so too has the total prize pots for winning these tournaments. With six and seven-figure sums handed out to those who reach the later rounds.
This article will cover how much the average professional darts players earn and the winnings of the highest earners in the sport.
How Much Do Professional Darts Players Make?
According to the PDC, from the top 159 players on the circuit, darts players can earn £28,406 ($39,375) in prize money alone. Additional earning may come in the form of sponsorship deals and bonuses.
PDC Prize Money
The 2022 PDC prize money is £500,000. With a total share of £2.5 million being divided up between the 96 players who took part in the PDC World Darts Championship.
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a darts associated in the United Kingdom. It holds several major darts championships throughout the year including the PDC World Darts Championship.
The breakdown of the prize money for the PDC World Darts Championship is as follows.
| Position | Number of Players | Prize Money |
| Winner | 1 | £500,000 |
| Runner-up | 1 | £200,000 |
| Semi-finalists | 2 | £100,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | 4 | £50,000 |
| Fourth round losers | 8 | £35,000 |
| Third round losers | 16 | £25,000 |
| Second round losers | 32 | £15,000 |
| First round losers | 32 | £7,500 |
| Total | £2,500,000 |
Who Are The Highest Paid Darts Players?
So, who are the highest paid darts players of all time? Here’s a list of the top 10:
- Michael van Gerwen (£8,571,167)
- Phil Tylor (£7,634,754)
- Gary Anderson (£4,358772)
- Peter Wright (£3,609,888)
- James Wade (£3,578,893)
- Raymond van Barneveld (£3,510,128)
- Adrian Lewis (£3,187,643)
- Gerwyn Price (£2,292,803)
- Simon Whitlock (£2,229,499)
- Dave Chisnall (£2,043,415)
According to data from the PDC Order of Merit, the highest paid darts player for the previous two years is Peter Wright, earning a total of £1.2 million through competition play alone.
How Do Professional Darts Players Make Money?
Professional darts players earn money in a variety of ways, the most significant being the prize money earned from winning or reaching the later stages of a major competition.
Below we’ve covered some of the other ways that dart players make money.
Competition Prize Money
The prize money that darts players earn from winning tournaments, without doubt, makes up the most significant percentage of a player’s annual earnings. However, it’s also one of the most difficult to achieve.
Additionally, competing and performing well in these tournaments will lead to other opportunities to increase earnings.
Sponsorships
Sponsorship deals can also be an additional revenue stream for professional darts players. For instance, winning a major tournament like the World Darts Championship will often lead to the top brands in the sport reaching out to be the face of their products.
It’s worth mentioning that there are three main types of sponsorship deals.
- Product Sponsorships
- Financial Sponsorships
- Percentage Sponsorships
Guest Appearances
Darts players are also able to earn money through guest appearances. Whether it be for entertainment purposes, corporate events or team building exercises, current and former players can be booked out for such events.
Darts MC Paul Booth runs a website for making such bookings, here: dartsexhibitions.co.uk
Conclusion
In this article we have explored the average darts players salary and potential prize money of the top tournaments around the world.
