The Professional Darts Corporation

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman.

The PDC developed and holds several championship competitions, including the annual PDC World Darts Championship, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, UK Open, Premier League, and Grand Slam. It also runs its own world rankings based on players' performances.

PDC History

The Professional Darts Corporation was initially formed as the World Darts Council in January 1992 and is now the leading professional body in the sport with over £10 million in prize money being paid out on its global circuit of tournaments.

The WDC was formed after 16 top professional players, along with managers Dick Allix, Tommy Cox and John Markovic, decided to break away from the British Darts Organisation to take the sport to a new level.

The first WDC event, the UK Masters, took place in October 1992 and the first World Championship was played over the 1993-94 festive period, establishing the partnership with Sky Sports which remains to this day.

The World Matchplay event followed in the summer of 1994, and four years later the World Grand Prix was introduced to the calendar to give three major televised events.