Remember, remember the 9th of November. The sporting fireworks continue well into the penultimate month of 2024, as the world’s best arrowsmiths will be lighting up the oche at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton for the Grand Slam of Darts. 32 players will be vying for the Eric Bristow Trophy, which gets underway on Saturday, November 9 (and climaxes on Sunday, November 17).
Luke Humphries, who’s already been crowned the World Championship and World Matchplay king this year, is currently no.1 in the PDC world rankings and will fancy his chances of defending his Grand Slam of Darts crown. He romped to the 2023 title in Wolverhampton, beating Rob Cross 16-8 in the Final, averaging a whopping 104 and scooping a cool £150,000.
Winning the Grand Slam of Darts has proved to be a lucky omen in previous years. Humphries went on to lift the World Championship trophy aloft following his Grand Slam victory last year, and so did Michael ‘Bully Boy’ Smith after he reigned supreme in Wolverhampton in 2022. Both Luke Humphries and Michael Smith have already qualified for this year’s Grand Slam of Darts tournament, along with high-profile darting stars such as Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen. However, we won’t know the full list of 32 qualifiers until the start of November.
Below, GOAL brings you all the info you need ahead of this November’s Grand Slam of Darts, including how to watch the tournament, the schedule and format and how much money is up for grabs in Wolverhampton.
When is the Grand Slam of Darts?
Getty ImagesThe 2024 Grand Slam of Darts gets underway at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton at 13:00 (GMT) on Saturday, November 9, with eight group-stage matches. The action continues daily/nightly into the following week and climaxes on Sunday night (November 17) with a best-of-31 legs Final.
Grand Slam of Darts - Session times
Getty ImagesDuring the opening weekend (November 9 & 10) of the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts, group matches take place over both afternoon and night sessions, starting at 13:00 and 19:00 (GMT), respectively. The group stage of the tournament continues and is completed during Monday’s and Tuesday’s (November 11 & 12) night sessions, which both start at 19:00.
The Second Round (or last-16) phase takes place over night sessions (again starting at 19:00) on Wednesday and Thursday (November 13 & 14). The first two quarter-finals commence on Friday, November 15 (from 19:00), with the remaining two being staged on Saturday, November 16 (from 19:00). It’s a busy day for players and the public alike on Sunday, November 17, with the semi-finals taking place from 13:00 and the final getting underway from 19:00.
Grand Slam of Darts - Venue & location
Getty ImagesThe Grand Slam of Darts has been held in Wolverhampton every year, bar one, since the tournament first launched in 2007. In 2020, due to the COVID pandemic, the event was held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry behind closed doors. Wolverhampton’s Civic Hall staged the Grand Slam for eleven years straight between 2007-2017, but due to renovations at that venue, the 2018 Grand Slam headed north across town to the WV Active Aldersley, which is close to Wolverhampton racecourse. Aside from the short COVID break in 2020, the Grand Slam of Darts has remained at WV Active Aldersley ever since.
WV Active Aldersley is a leisure facility owned by the City of Wolverhampton Council. It provides various sports training and competition facilities. Aldersley Stadium, a part of the facility built in 1956, contains a running and cycling track. The centre also has artificial football and hockey pitches, the National Indoor Shooting venue, a sports hall and a gym. In addition to hosting the Grand Slam of Darts since 2018, WV Active Aldersley has also hosted live comedy shows and other events.
How to watch the Grand Slam of Darts in the UK
Getty ImagesThe 2024 Grand Slam of Darts will be available to watch live and exclusively on Sky Sports in the UK, each and every day, from Saturday, November 9 to Sunday, November 17.
If you're an existing Sky customer, you can add Sky Sports online or through the My Sky app anytime. The package starts from £20 per month with Sky Stream. Sky Sports+ is included at no extra cost, allowing the viewer to watch many more live events across various sports. The Sky Sports app allows subscribers to download and watch live sports on the go and is available on iPhone, iPad, and Android.
NOW TV offers a variety of sign-ups for the avid sports watcher, including the ‘Sports Day Membership, which allows access to all 12 Sky Sports channels for a 24-hour period for £14.99. NOW’s ‘Fully Flexible Sports Month Membership’ again gives unlimited Sky Sports access but over a 30-day period instead. That costs £29.99 a month and auto-renews unless cancelled before the end of the month.
There’s also a ‘6-month Saver’ package, where you are charged £25% less and only pay £26 a month, but you need to sign up for a 6-month minimum term. After the 6-month minimum term, Sports Membership auto-renews at £34.99 a month unless cancelled.
What is the format for the Grand Slam of Darts?
Getty ImagesThe Grand Slam of Darts is not just a simple knockout tournament. The opening stage of the event sees the 32 qualified players split into eight groups of four competitors. Each player goes head-to-head with every other player in their group in best-of-9 leg matches, with the winner receiving two points. The top two players from each group advance to the second round (or last-16), and the rest of the tournament works on the regular knockout format. The knockout rounds consist of the second round (best of 19 legs), quarter-finals (best of 31 legs), semi-finals (best of 31 legs), and final (best of 31 legs).
What's the prize money for the Grand Slam of Darts?
The total prize money on offer for the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts is £650,000, and that is broken down as follows:
- Winner - £150,000
- Runner-up - £70,000
- Losing semi-finalist - £50,000
- Losing quarter-finalist - £25,000
- Second Round losers - £12,500
- Bonus for group winners - £3,500
- Placed 3rd in group - £8,000
- Placed 4th in group - £5,000
How to get tickets for the Grand Slam of Darts 2024
Getty ImagesA limited number of tickets are still available to watch the action live from Wolverhampton, with prices starting from £38.
Tickets for the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts are available on the PDC's official ticket site, pdc.tv/tickets.