Move over Santa and Boxing Day fixture frenzies, the PDC Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024/25 is almost upon us, with the Mecca of the sport, Alexandra Palace, being readied to host arguably the biggest version of the event in its rich and storied history.
When is the Paddy Power World Darts Championship?
The tournament begins at Alexandra Palace on Sunday, December 15th. The North London venue has hosted the event every year since 2008.
Three first-round matches and one second-round match will open up the tournament - with last year's champion Luke Humphries the standout name to take to the oche on day one.
The competition then kicks into overdrive with matches played across afternoon and evening sessions up until a three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.
The championship will then resume on December 27th before a night off on New Year's Eve.
The quarter-finals will occur across two New Year's Day sessions before the semi-finals on January 2nd.
The final takes place on Friday, January 3rd.
How much is the prize money?
A star-studded field of 96 players from around the world will take part in this edition of the PDC World Darts Championship in London, all competing for a slice of a huge prize pot worth £2.5 million.
Semi-finalists claim £100,000 each, with the runner-up taking home £200,000 and the winner earning a mega £500,000.
And on top of all that, any player that hits a nine-dart finish will pocket a £60,000 bonus.
Who are the favourites?
Defending world champion Luke Humphries is back and ready to fight his title after toppling teenage sensation Luke Littler in the final last January - with a potential rematch between the pair in the semi-finals should both players make it through as expected.
However, unlike last year, 'The Nuke' enters this year's championship as the bookies' favourite, with 'Cool Hand Luke' and former world champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson among the other top contenders for the crown.
Other outside bets include the likes of Wessel Nijman, Mike De Decker, Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price.
How to follow the World Darts Championship
The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland-based subscribers).
Flashscore will have daily live coverage throughout the tournament.
Follow every match from Ally Pally right here.
2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship full schedule:
Sunday, December 15th (20:00 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Thibault Tricole vs Joe Comito (R1)
Jermaine Wattimena vs Stefan Bellmont (R1)
Kim Huybrechts vs Keane Barry (R1)
Luke Humphries vs Tricole/Comito (R2)
Monday, December 16th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Wesley Plaisier vs Ryusei Azemoto (R1)
Luke Woodhouse vs Lourence Ilagan (R1)
Alan Soutar vs Kai Gotthardt (R1)
James Wade vs Wattimena/Bellmont (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Niels Zonneveld vs Robert Owen (R1)
Connor Scutt vs Ben Robb (R1)
Cameron Menzies vs Leonard Gates (R1)
Gerwyn Price vs Huybrechts/Barry (R2)
Tuesday, December 17th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
James Hurrell vs Jim Long (R1)
Kevin Doets vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven (R1)
Ryan Joyce vs Darius Labanauskas (R1)
Mike De Decker vs Woodhouse/Ilagan (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jeffrey de Graaf vs Rashad Sweeting (R1)
Ricardo Pietreczko vs Xiaochen Zong (R1)
Ryan Meikle vs Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Peter Wright vs Plaisier/Azemoto (R2)
Wednesday, December 18th (20:00 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Jim Williams vs Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Madars Razma vs Christian Kist (R1)
Ricky Evans vs Gordon Mathers (R1)
Nathan Aspinall vs Menzies/Gates (R2)
Thursday, December 19th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Chris Landman vs Lok Yin Lee (R1)
Callan Rydz vs Romeo Grbavac (R1)
Martin Lukeman vs Nitin Kumar (R1)
Gabriel Clemens vs Zonneveld/Owen (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Nick Kenny vs Stowe Buntz (R1)
Mensur Suljovic vs Matt Campbell (R1)
Scott Williams vs Niko Springer (R1)
Michael Smith vs Doets/Van Leuven (R2)
Friday, December 20th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Stephen Burton vs Alexander Merkx (R1)
Wessel Nijman vs Cameron Carolissen (R1)
Ian White vs Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)
Stephen Bunting vs Soutar/Gotthardt (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 GMT)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
Mickey Mansell vs Tomoya Goto (R1)
Florian Hempel vs Jeffrey De Zwaan (R1)
William O’Connor vs Dylan Slevin (R1)
Michael van Gerwen vs Hurrell/Long (R2)
Saturday, December 21st
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
Karel Sedlacek vs Rhys Griffin (R1)
Richard Veenstra vs Alexis Toylo (R1)
Brendan Dolan vs Landman/Lee (R2)
Chris Dobey vs Burton/Merkx (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
4x Second Round
Danny Noppert vs Joyce/Labanauskas (R2)
Raymond van Barneveld vs Kenny/Buntz (R2)
Luke Littler vs Meikle/Sherrock (R2)
Damon Heta vs Scutt/Robb (R2)
Sunday, December 22nd
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
4x Second Round
Ryan Searle vs Suljovic/Campbell (R2)
Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Razma/Kist (R2)
Joe Cullen vs Nijman/Carolissen (R2)
Ritchie Edhouse vs White/Sosing (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
4x Second Round
Martin Schindler vs Rydz/Grbavac (R2)
Ross Smith vs J Williams/Nebrida (R2)
Gary Anderson vs De Graaf/Sweeting (R2)
Dimitri Van den Bergh vs O’Connor/Slevin (R2)
Monday, December 23rd
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
4x Second Round
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Veenstra/Toylo (R2)
Andrew Gilding vs Lukeman/Kumar (R2)
Josh Rock vs Sedlacek/Griffin (R2)
Jonny Clayton vs Mansell/Goto (R2)
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
4x Second Round
Gian van Veen vs Pietreczko/Zong (R2)
Daryl Gurney vs Hempel/De Zwaan (R2)
Dave Chisnall vs Evans/Mathers (R2)
Rob Cross vs S Williams/Springer (R2)
Friday, December 27th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
3x Third Round
Saturday, December 28th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
3x Third Round
Sunday, December 29th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Monday, December 30th
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (20:30 CET)
3x Fourth Round
Wednesday, January 1st
Afternoon Session (13:30 CET)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (20:00 CET)
2x Quarter-Finals
Thursday, January 2nd (20:30 CET)
Semi-Finals
Friday, January 3rd (21:00 CET)
Final