The PDC Development Tour for 2026 is set to feature 24 events, with top darts talents aged 23 and under competing across venues in Leicester, Milton Keynes, Hildesheim, and Wigan. The tour includes players like Beau Greaves, who secured a Tour Card after a stellar run last year, and others such as Charlie Manby, Cam Crabtree, and Owen Bates. Eligibility is limited to players not in the top 64 of the main PDC Order of Merit, with a minimum age of 16, allowing Tour Card holders like Greaves and Manby to participate.
Each event offers a prize pool of £20,000, with the winner receiving £3,000, the runner-up £2,000, semi-finalists £1,000, quarter-finalists £750, last 16 losers £350, last 32 losers £250, and last 64 losers £100. The format involves matches played first to five legs, with two tournaments per day on Fridays and Saturdays and one on Sundays, except for the final weekend which has four events. Key incentives include Tour Cards for the top two players without one, qualification for the PDC World Darts Championship for the top three, a Grand Slam of Darts spot for the highest-ranked player, and benefits like free entry to Q-School for top 16 players and UK Open qualification for the top eight.
The Development Tour is not currently available to watch on TV, though a deal with DAZN may bring coverage in Germany from 2027. For now, results can be followed via DartConnect and tournament centers. Predictions from experts highlight Charlie Manby as a favorite to top the Order of Merit, with Beau Greaves, Tyler Thorpe, Cam Crabtree, and Owen Bates also noted as players to watch. Jurjen van der Velde is tipped as a potential winner, alongside other talents like Jamai van den Herik, Owen Roelofs, Sebastian Bialecki, and Dylan Slevin, with German prospects Yorick Hofkens and Leon Weber also in the mix.
