The World Darts Championship will stay at Alexandra Palace until 2031 after a new five-year deal was agreed, following talks to switch the venue for Saudi. The festive tournament, which has been staged at the iconic London venue since 2007, is preparing to move to Alexandra Palace's Great Hall from 2026-27 as part of the agreement. The upgraded venue will boost capacity for the tournament to approximately 180,000 spectators, an increase of more than 70,000 fans in what represents a 64 per cent hike. It means this year's World Championship, which runs from December 11 to January 3 2026, will be the final one staged in the current hall. PDC chairman Barry Hearn had discussed moving the World Championship to Saudi Arabia, but this deal - and the Gulf nation's refusal to allow alcohol at their events - now ends any chance of that happening. In an announcement posted to Instagram on Thursday, the Alexandra Palace and Official PDC's accounts wrote: 'HUGE NEWS: the @officialpdc World Darts Championship is staying at its ‘spiritual home’, North London’s iconic Alexandra Palace, until at least 2031, and from 2026, it will move to the Palace’s Great Hall. 'Set to grow to 180,000 over the three-week tournament, individual sessions will rise to more than 5,000 fans. The World Darts Championship just got a whole lot bigger, and so did the nation’s festive calendar favourite.' Matt Porter, PDC chief executive, said: 'Alexandra Palace has become synonymous with the World Darts Championship, and we are thrilled to extend our partnership through to at least 2031. 'Ally Pally at Christmas is the identity of the tournament - its atmosphere is unmatched anywhere in sport. #darts #news #allypally #lukelittler #long - @dailymailsport