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Although he’ll undoubtedly benefit from home advantage, the giant Dutchman needs to be on top form if he is to successfully defend his crown. The likes of reigning world champion Luke Littler, current world number two Luke Humphries, and a rejuvenated Gerwyn Price form part of an extremely talented field, which has already started to arrive in Amsterdam ahead of Thursday’s first set of matches.
The World Series of Darts Finals is the culmination of six ‘Masters’ events, that were hosted in different locations around the world. Each player earns ranking points based on their performances at these events, with an overall leaderboard helping to determine who qualifies for this month’s Finals.
Things got underway in the Middle East way back in January, when Bahrain and Saudi Arabia assumed hosting duties for the competition’s opening two contests. The focus then shifted to the Danish capital as the Nordic Masters unfolded at the beginning of the summer, before New York welcomed the PDC’s finest to Madison Square Garden. The all-important final two events took place Down Under, with several Oceanian-based players qualifying for the Finals after securing points in New Zealand and Australia.
ITV are providing exclusive coverage of this week’s World Series of Darts Finals, enabling fans to enjoy four days of top-level darts on free-to-air television. The tournament will also be shown live on the ITVX streaming platform, where highlights, full match replays, and other features can be found.
2026 World Series of Darts Finals – Key information
Date: Thursday 17th September – Sunday 20th September
Start time: From 18:00 (BST) each evening
Venue: AFAS Live, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
TV Channels/Live stream: ITV4/ITVX
Reigning champion: Michael van Gerwen (beat Luke Littler 11-7 in 2025 final)
Favourites: Luke Littler: 8/15, Luke Humphries: 15/2, Gerwyn Price: 16/1
Odds provided by bet365
Qualification
The 2026 World Series of Darts Finals consists of a 32-player field, who booked their place in the tournament via one of three separate qualifying routes.
The vast majority of the participants are heading to the Finals as a consequence of their World Series ranking. Those who occupied the top 24 positions at the conclusion of the Australian Masters were automatically extended an invite, having accrued the necessary ranking points throughout the season. The strongest eight players within this population have been seeded, ensuring they avoid one another in the opening round.
A further four slots were ringfenced for the top players in the PDC World Rankings who didn’t qualify as a consequence of their World Series points haul, while Tour Card holders scrapped for the last remaining tournament berths at a one-off event in Leicester.
The line-up has changed on several occasions after being finalised at the end of August. Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena has taken the spot of 2017 runner-up Gary Anderson, who withdrew from the tournament as a PDC World Rankings qualifier. This will be Anderson’s fourth consecutive absence, having last featured in the World Series of Darts Finals in 2022.
Another three places were opened up to Tour Card holders following a succession of drop-outs, with last month’s qualifying event now providing seven players as opposed to the original allocation of four. Dirk van Duijvenbode was drafted in to replace Man Lok Leung when the Hong Kong native fell ill at the start of September, before Filipino duo Lourence Ilagan and Alexis Toylo stumbled across VISA issues. That left the door open for Daryl Gurney and Maik Kuivenhoven, who both face seeded opponents across Thursday and Friday.
Format and Tournament Draw
As was the case in all six of the World Series of Darts events, each match at the Finals is contested over a pre-defined number of legs within a ‘best of’ format. The maximum number of legs that can be played increases as the tournament progresses, as per the schedule below:
Round 1 and Quarter-finals: Best of 11 legs
Semi-finals: Best of 19 legs
Final: Best of 21 legs
While the number of potential legs played in the first two rounds aligns with what we saw in the ‘regular season’ meetings, the semi-final and final will unfold over a longer timeframe in Amsterdam. This is because an extra six legs have been added to each, increasing them from ‘best of 13’ and ‘best of 15’ contests to the match lengths referenced above.
The draw was made earlier this month and has already been fully mapped out, enabling players to identify their potential opponents en route to the final.
The 16 first-round ties are as follows (seeding in brackets):
Michael van Gerwen (1) v Daryl Gurney
Kevin Doets v Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting (8) v Josh Rock
Rob Cross v Ryan Searle
Luke Humphries (4) v Jermaine Wattimena
Viktor Tingström v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gian van Veen (5) v Chris Dobey
Karel Sedláček v Ben Robb
Gerwyn Price (2) v Brody Klinge
Adam Leek v Jim Long
James Wade (7) v Damon Heta
Wessel Nijman v Simon Whitlock
Luke Littler (3) v Danny Noppert
Nathan Aspinall v Raymond Smith
Jonny Clayton (6) v Maik Kuivenhoven
Motomu Sakai v Callan Rydz
Prize Money
At the start of 2026, the PDC substantially increased prize money volumes across the entire professional circuit. The total collective purse rose to an unprecedented £25m, a £7m uplift on the previous year’s like-for-like figure. This colossal cash injection resulted in the sport’s first £1m champion, as Luke Littler swept aside the field at the PDC World Championships.
All majors have therefore received additional funds, including this month’s World Series of Darts Finals. The prize pot has grown by £50k from the £400k that was distributed in 2025, while the winner is also more handsomely rewarded. Michael van Gerwen will earn a cool £100k if he once again manages to clinch back-to-back World Series triumphs, which is a 20% boost on last year’s bounty.
There has also been an increase in what the runner-up and each of the losing semi-finalists receive, while the fees for being eliminated in the first round, second round, and quarter-finals remain the same.
Full prize money breakdown (2025 totals in brackets):
Winner: £100k (£80k)
Runner-up: £60k (£40k)
Semi-finalists: £30k (£25k)
Quarter-finalists: £17.5k (£17.5k)
Second Round: £10k (£10k)
First Round: £5k (£5k)
Where to watch on TV or live stream?
Ahead of the 2026 darts season, ITV agreed a three-year extension to their existing broadcasting contract with the PDC. This ensured that the network was able to continue to televise various major PDC tournaments, including the Players Championship Finals, the UK Open, and the European Championships.
The agreement also enables ITV to screen the 2026 World Series of Darts Finals, alongside each of the six aforementioned ‘Masters’ events. This weekend’s meeting at the AFAS Live will be shown on ITV4, with coverage commencing at 18:00 (BST). Online viewers can follow the action on the ITVX app, which can be downloaded via the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Smart TV hubs.
World Series of Darts Finals – Odds
The win outright market is dominated by the tournament’s eight seeded players, although the likes of Wessel Nijman and Nathan Aspinall will believe they have a realistic chance of securing silverware in the Dutch capital. Predictably, the bookmakers have installed Luke Littler as the red-hot favourite.
We’ve shared the odds for the top ten listed participants below:
Luke Littler (England): 8/15 (bet365)
Luke Humphries (England): 15/2 (bet365)
Gerwyn Price (Wales): 16/1 (bet365)
Wessel Nijman (Netherlands): 16/1 (bet365)
Gian van Veen (Netherlands): 20/1 (bet365)
James Wade (England): 20/1 (bet365)
Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands): 20/1 (bet365)
Jonny Clayton (Wales): 22/1 (bet365)
Nathan Aspinall (England): 25/1 (bet365)
N.B. Stephen Bunting (England) was confirmed as eighth seed, but does not feature amongst the favourites. He is priced at 28/1 (bet365)
The odds, correct at the time of publication, are subject to change. All odds provided by bet365.