The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) has extended its tie-up with UK betting giant Betfred – one of its main commercial partners – through 2030 at the earliest.
Via a new contract unveiled today (July 18), Betfred will carry on as the title partner of the PDC's World Matchplay and Women's World Matchplay events.
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The deal has been announced with the men's 2025 World Matchplay – in which 32 of the top players compete – beginning on Saturday (July 19) in Blackpool, England. It then runs through until July 27.
This year's Women's World Matchplay – with that event having been around 2022 – will also take place on July 27, meanwhile.
The bookmaker initially became the title sponsor of the men's tournament in November 2018. The most recent extension between the PDC and Betfred (encompassing the Women's World Matchplay for the first time) was then struck in mid-2022, running through the upcoming 2025 event.
Next year's World Matchplay will allocate total prize money of £1 million ($1.34 million), including £225,000 for the winner, with the 2026 Women's World Matchplay having a prize fund of £40,000.
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By GlobalDataMatt Porter, chief executive at the PDC, has said: "Betfred have become synonymous with the World Matchplay since joining us as title sponsor in 2019, and it's wonderful that they've extended that support for a further five years.
"Their backing of the Betfred Women's World Matchplay echoes their commitment to the sport, and we're excited that prize money for both events will increase from 2026."
Fred Done, owner of Betfred, added: "We're delighted to extend our sponsorship with the PDC for another five years, during an exciting period for darts as a sport.
"The quality of the field has never been stronger, and we can only see these tournaments continuing to grow in the coming years."
In terms of recent PDC activity, early June saw the organization agree a new broadcast deal in the US with national network NBC Sports.
Through the agreement, select PDC events are being shown live on NBC’s Peacock streaming service.
Peacock is streaming live coverage of the Premier League Play-Offs, US Darts Masters, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, and World Darts Championship.
In the UK, meanwhile, the PDC agreed to a major rights extension with pay-TV heavyweight Sky in February this year, maintaining a long-standing relationship between the two parties.
