Russ Bray backs move away from Ally Pally: 'If they can pay the players £2million for winning the world final, it makes sense'

For some time now, there’s been a growing murmur about the possibility of the PDC World Darts Championship leaving its long-time home at Alexandra Palace. Opinions on a potential move remain divided, but legendary referee Russ Bray is firmly in favour.

Bray, who earned the nickname 'The Voice of Darts' over the course of his career, last refereed at the Ally Pally in the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler. Since then, Bray has moved into a semi retirement, focusing more on his ambassadorial duties for the PDC, whilst still occasionally popping up as a referee on the World Series of Darts.

Speaking on the TalkSport Breakfast Show, Bray was quizzed about the potential of a change I'm venue for the sport's showpiece. "The PDC's a business, like you say, it is a business," began the 67-year-old. "Barry and Eddie [Hearn, respective chairman and ex-chairman] and Matt [Porter, CEO of PDC], these guys, they'll sit down and talk."

And as mentioned, Bray is one of those in support of a move away from the Ally Pally, provided any move could improve the prize money on offer for the players involved. "Obviously, if they can pay the players £2million for winning the world final because we've got to go to somewhere else, then I'm pretty certain that's what they will do," Bray explains. "It makes sense."

One of the most heavily rumoured locations that the Worlds could move to is Saudi Arabia. Barry Hearn has previously moved to shut down this speculation however. "The Saudis asked me for darts about a couple months ago and I asked them a simple question," he revealed. "'Can we have alcohol?' And they said no. I said, 'Well then you can’t have the darts.'"

"100 per cent, we see the future of the Darts World Championship in the UK," Matt Porter also said. "Ally Pally is an iconic home of the World Darts Championship, it is somewhere we have been happy over the years we have been there."