Sporting Life
Stephen Bunting celebrates with his son (Picture: Taylor Lanning/PDC)
Stephen Bunting celebrates with his son (Picture: Taylor Lanning/PDC)

PDC bring the Winmau World Masters back to the darts calendar in 2025

By Sporting Life
13:54 · MON October 28, 2024

The Winmau World Masters will return to the darts calendar in 2025, as one of the Professional Darts Corporation's biggest TV events undergoes a radical rebrand.

The Masters, won last year by Stephen Bunting, will become the Winmau World Masters - adopting the name of an event which was first held in 1975 and has been won by a host of darts legends, including Eric Bristow, Dennis Priestley and Phil Taylor.

The PDC had already confirmed that the ITV4-televised tournament – introduced to the calendar in 2013 – was to become a full ranking event in 2025, being held from January 30-February 2 at Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena, featuring the addition of a fourth day of big-stage action.

The new-look Winmau World Masters will feature the top 24 players on the PDC Order of Merit following the 2024/25 World Darts Championship, who will be joined in the expanded field by eight further players who progress from Preliminary Rounds, while all games will be played in a sets format over the best of three legs per set, in keeping with the tournament’s traditional structure.

Taking place at the Marshall Arena on Wednesday January 29, the Preliminary Rounds will see up to 180 players from around the world competing for eight places in the televised stages.

The Preliminary Rounds will be open to all non-qualified PDC Tour Card Holders, the top eight players from each of the PDC's 2024 Secondary Tours and Global Affiliate Tours, plus four players from the Junior Darts Corporation.

The Preliminary Rounds will be streamed live on PDCTV and will initially be played in a round-robin phase of 32 groups followed by a knockout phase from the last 32 onwards to find the eight players who will progress to the main event.

PDC Chief Executive Matthew Porter said: "We are delighted to share our exciting plans for reintroducing the Winmau World Masters to the darts calendar, which I'm sure will excite darts fans and players alike.

"Since the beginning of our working relationship with Winmau we have discussed the idea of reviving this historic event which in its heyday was one of the biggest prizes in the sport.

"We have worked closely with Winmau to adopt as many characteristics of the original format as is practical to, and in keeping with its global nature, the Preliminary Rounds will provide an opportunity for players around the world to play on one of the sport's biggest stages.

“This event’s expansion and change to a ranked event was another positive step for players on the PDC circuit, and with tickets selling out in record time they can look forward to getting an opportunity to shine in front of a packed crowd at the Marshall Arena next year.”

Winmau, the official equipment provider to the PDC, has signed an initial ten-year deal as title sponsor of the Winmau World Masters.

Vince Bluck, Winmau Managing Director, commented: “The Winmau World Masters has been at the core of competitive darts for over half a century and the PDC’s plans to restore the spirit of this iconic event will bridge the generations of darting excellence.

“We’re thrilled to be working closely with the PDC, championing players at every level and across every major darting nation, in line with the DNA of this historic event.

“The Winmau World Masters embodies everything that's great about our sport; by combining this with the PDC’s showcase arena atmosphere, broadcast to millions of fans around the world, we will be able to captivate brand new audiences and create unrivalled opportunities for more dart players in this rapidly growing sport.”

The event will enjoy 2500 sell-out crowds in Milton Keynes next year, with almost all tickets sold during the first two days of Priority Sale in September.

2025 Winmau World Masters

Wednesday January 29 (1300 GMT)

  • Preliminary Rounds

Thursday January 30 (1900 GMT)

  • First Round x8

Friday January 31 (1900 GMT)

  • First Round x8

Saturday February 1
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)

  • Second Round x4

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

  • Second Round x4

Sunday February 2
Afternoon Session (1245 GMT)

  • Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

  • Semi-Finals & Final

Competing Players

  • Top 24 from PDC Order of Merit following 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship
  • 8x from Preliminary Rounds

Preliminary Rounds

To be open to:

PDC Tour Card Holders (up to 104)

Top 8 non-Tour Card Holders from the final 2024 Orders of Merit from:

-    PDC Winmau Challenge Tour

-    PDC Winmau Development Tour

-    PDC Women’s Series

-    PDC Nordic & Baltic ProTour

-    PDC Asian Tour

-    CDC ProTour

-    DartPlayers Australia ProTour

-    DartPlayers New Zealand ProTour

(Should players in the top 8 reject their invitation, places will not be passed down the Orders of Merit. The order of priority will be as listed above, should players appear on more than one Order of Merit)

- 4x Junior Darts Corporation Representatives

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