Darts supremo Barry Hearn has warned Alexandra Palace that the World Championship may leave its iconic venue.
And it’s due to Luke Littler’s booming popularity.
The 17-year-old is “the gift that keeps on giving” according to Hearn and has opened up the door to plenty of more opportunities.
“Do we need to move to a bigger venue? The bigger hall at Ally Pally needs a lot of work done to it but it could handle 6,000 people per session,” Hearn told PA.
“So there is the potential. But the other side of it is the game of darts around the world is getting so huge I actually need to make the World Championship longer.
“If I have got eight extra sessions I have got 25,000 more tickets to sell. But inevitably in the end we are going to be looking at what we are going to do.
“It is one step at a time, I am not a gambler, but sometimes you get a curveball like Luke Littler and you have to rethink your strategy.
“We reckon we could sell 250,000 tickets for the World Championship and they wouldn’t fit in the Ally Pally.
“It’s one step at a time, we are looking at the big hall but it needs a lot of work done. We are keeping our options open because we have learned with Luke Littler that you sometimes can’t see what is coming.
“It’s under discussion with everybody.”
