BRAY SUPPORTS VENUE CHANGE FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
10/05/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
LEGENDARY referee Russ Bray has supported the idea of a potential venue change for the PDC World Darts Championship.
The annual major has been hosted at Alexandra Palace in north London since 2008 after a previous stint at the Circus Tavern in Essex.
Memorable moments from players and fans at Ally Pally have played a key role in darts’ recent surge in popularity.
However, questions have been raised about its future as the host venue, with Saudi Arabia emerging as a potential alternative amid its growing investment in sport.
And Bray has hinted that a relocation could be practical.
He told talkSPORT: “The PDC’s [Professional Darts Corporation] a business, like you say, it is a business.
“Barry and Eddie [Hearn, respective chairman and ex-chairman] and Matt [Porter, CEO of PDC], these guys, they’ll sit down and talk…
“Obviously, if they can pay the players £2million for winning the world final because we’ve got to go to somewhere else, then I’m pretty certain that’s what they will do. It makes sense.”
Barry Hearn previously spoke about the potential of darts moving to Saudi Arabia.
They have become regular hosts of boxing events and have also been confirmed as the host nation for the 2034 World Cup.
He said: “The Saudis asked me for darts about a couple months ago and I asked them a simple question.
“‘Can we have alcohol?’ And they said no. I said, ‘Well then you can’t have the darts.'”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
