World Darts Championships set for major change next year which could unearth more talents like Luke Littler

BARRY HEARN has teased the prospect of the PDC World Darts Championship getting even BIGGER next Christmas.

The darts supremo – who is president of Matchroom Sport Group – has transformed the event into a 16-day, 96-player event spread over the Festive period.

There is a potential temptation to increase the number of sessions and maybe make it a 128-player draw, like they have in snooker, which would mean more bums on seats and more eyeballs on TV.

Promoter son Eddie, who is the CEO of the PDC, claimed that a peak audience of 1.4million people watched the quarter-final action on New Year’s Day.

This figure is only eclipsed by top Premier League football matches but there are some contests which dip below that on the channel.

In the wash after every tournament, the darts organisation sit down and review formats and scheduling for the following year.

Hearn, 75, told talkSPORT: “The demand for tickets has absolutely blown us away again.

“It has given us problems because we are not accommodating enough fans.

“We are disappointing too many people and it’s something that we are working on.

“To look at changes in some formats and dates next year. But for the moment, let’s sit back and enjoy the rest of the darts.

FREE BETS - BEST BETTING OFFERS & NEW CUSTOMER BONUSES

“About 90,000 tickets for this year’s event were sold in less than an hour.

“Everybody is going to have that Christmas spirit about them.

“You are in there, watching on a big screen, chatting to your mates.

“We reckon about 40 per cent of the time they are watching the darts. The rest of the time they are having a good time, chanting, getting involved.

“The fancy dress, it wasn’t only 10-12 years ago when there was just a handful of people dressed as chickens or something.

“Today you see 6ft 5in dockers walking up the road dressed in bra and pants. I mean what other sport could give you that type of entertainment?”

A potential expansion could help unearth more talents like this year's breakout star Luke Littler.

The 16-year-old has shot to stardom after storming into the final at Ally Pally, where he will aim to win the £500,000 top prize.

Littler, who is the reigning PDC World Youth champion, has picked up wins over the likes of Raymond van Barneveld and Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross.