The Dart Side of Life - Die Adrian Geiler Kolumne #6: Welcome to the Most Valuable Year in Darts History
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With a record £25 million in prize money and a new generation of stars emerging, darts is entering a true golden era. From an emotional World Championship experience to breakthrough moments on the pro tour, 2026 promises excitement, growth, and unforgettable stories across the sport.
Hello dear darts friends,
Happy New Year — and welcome to the most valuable year in the history of darts. The biggest World Championship of all time was the starting gun, and now the rest of the tour is also playing for serious money. For the first time ever, £25 million in prize money is up for grabs. Never has it been more attractive to become a professional darts player.
For me personally, the 2026 Darts World Championship was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. I was scheduled to commentate for DAZN on three days and to be on site at Alexandra Palace for eleven days. My first time at Ally Pally! But after my second commentary shift on December 15, I felt a scratchy throat coming on. One day later, I was running a fever of 39°C. It didn’t go away for three days and completely knocked me out. Commentating — let alone traveling to London — was out of the question. And so, I spent a lot of time on the couch: sleeping, watching darts, sleeping, darts, sleeping, darts…
After Christmas, the adventure finally began. Driving up the hill for the first time, entering the historic building, seeing the media area with all its familiar faces, the arena, the stage — the biggest stage in darts. I won’t deny that it overwhelmed me. I’ve been deeply in love with darts for almost exactly four years now. Being allowed to enter this temple of the sport was an emotional moment.
Everyone I spoke to beforehand warned me about two things: the temperature and the smell. Both turned out to be absolutely true. Ally Pally smells (which honestly didn’t bother me too much) — and it is COLD. REALLY cold. On the final day, I talked about this with Katharina Kleinfeldt from SPORT1, and we both agreed: once the World Championship is over, we’ll be happy to finally stop freezing and have warm hands again.
For a certified darts nerd like me, Ally Pally felt like a child walking into a toy store. In the media area sat former BDO world champion Mark Webster (my doppelgänger). Former world-class player Paul Nicholson was working for TalkSport — and was our locker-room neighbor at DAZN. I also recognized and spoke to many other media colleagues. The daily technical discussions among like-minded people were fantastic. There was also a daily media darts challenge — but let’s not talk about the results. I’ll just say this: on New Year’s Eve, I won a match at the Flight Club near the players’ hotel against the SPORT1 crew — especially the seemingly unbeatable Moritz Blume — with the very last dart. Epic.
The encounters with the fans are something I won’t forget anytime soon either. Especially in the days right after Christmas, the number of German fans was incredible. The atmosphere was breathtaking, even though there wasn’t a single win for the German players after Christmas. At Ally Pally, “Eine Straße, viele Bäume” just hits differently. Amid all the fun and celebration, one thing stood out about all the fans — I’ll name Paulomuc and Aditotoro here as representatives, whom I had the pleasure of meeting: the reverence for this darts temple.
And then there were the players. Luke Humphries wanted to take a selfie with me because I apparently look like the well-known darts Twitter personality Josh Pearson — one of his best friends. Suddenly, Gian van Veen came and said before our interview: “Can’t believe I’m talking to Josh Pearson”. Justin Hood was convinced I could be his father because we look so alike (a running gag that lasted for days and ended with a cheeky grab). Kevin Doets earned a solid 6.7 meme. And I properly wished the best BULL’S player, Krzysztof Ratajski, a Happy New Year in Polish (“dobrego nowego!”). None of this was something I took for granted — until now, I had followed most of these people only through a screen, not in real life.
Shortly after this intense World Championship, I was hit again and spent a few more days laid up. But there was no vacation or break afterward. One of the most fascinating tournaments in darts was next on the agenda: Q-School, the annual qualification tournament for the PDC Pro Tour. And once again, from a German perspective, it was highly successful. Five new German Tour Cards were secured. With 15 players on tour, darts Germany is increasingly establishing itself as the number three darts nation — behind England and the Netherlands. The achievement of BULL’S professional Arno Merk cannot be praised highly enough. Marching through Q-School undefeated (!) after a fantastic World Championship speaks volumes about his quality. Other players, like World Championship surprise packages Charlie Manby or Andreas Harrysson, struggled more — or didn’t make it at all.
There was also a second new Tour Card winner from BULL’S: Cristo Reyes. Very few would have predicted the return of the Spanish Spartan half a year ago. But darts never truly lets you go, doesn’t it? This sport pulls you in. Cristo felt that too — and now he’s back in attack mode. If he plays the way he did at Q-School, it won’t take long before he’s once again competing in the extended world elite.
2026 will be an exciting year for darts. The sport is getting younger — exemplified by this year’s Premier League, the youngest ever. And there is more money to be won in darts than ever before. That, too, will help the sport continue to grow.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll happily say it again: we are entering a golden age of darts. Let’s enjoy it — and celebrate it.
Game on,
yours, Adrian