Darts LIVE: Ally Pally could lose world championship as MVG warns | Other

Darts supremo Barry Hearn has warned Alexandra Palace that the World Championship could leave its iconic venue.

And this is due to the growing popularity of Luke Littler.

The 17-year-old is “the gift that keeps on giving” according to Hearn and has opened the door to many more opportunities.

“Should we move to a bigger room?” The biggest hall at Ally Pally needs a lot of work, but it could accommodate 6,000 people per session,” Hearn told PA.

“So there is potential. But the flip side is that the game of darts in the world is becoming so huge that I actually have to extend the world championship.

“If I have eight more screenings, I have 25,000 more tickets to sell. But inevitably, we will end up thinking about what we are going to do.

“It’s one step at a time, I’m not a gambler, but sometimes you get a curveball like Luke Littler and you have to rethink your strategy.

“We estimate we could sell 250,000 tickets for the World Championship and they wouldn’t fit into the Ally Pally.

“It’s one step at a time, we’re looking at the big room but it’s a lot of work. We keep our options open because we learned from Luke Littler that sometimes you can’t see what’s happening.

“It’s being discussed with everyone.”