Darts legend Phil Taylor names huge price to complete retirement U-turn
Darts legend Phil Taylor has revealed it would take a huge sum of money to tempt him out of retirement.
Taylor won a record 16 world championships during his career, but has not participated in a major PDC event since losing the 2018 world championship final to Rob Cross. He has competed on the World Seniors Tour in recent years, but fully retired in 2024.
However, has now admitted the prospect of a huge payday could see him reverse that decision, with PDC president Barry Hearn admitting the Saudis are “very keen” on investing in darts. When asked about a potential comeback, Taylor told talkSPORT : “Would I come back? I would ask to be sent some darts and a dartboard, definitely.
“I think also, if it does go to Saudi Arabia, I wouldn’t put it past Barry – £10m for the winner. I think Saudi Arabia is that big of a sports country now, I think they could make it £10m. That’s how big I think Barry will make it. I’ll be doing something, trust me.”
Speaking exclusively to Mirror Sport last year, Hearn spoke about Saudi Arabia’s interest in darts, but admitted the fact they will not allow alcohol consumption at events is a major sticking point at the moment.
“I have spoken to the Saudis and they were very keen,” Hearn said. “But of course there’s no alcohol in Saudi. There will be quite soon. And when it does, the first event they will want to stage in Saudi will be darts.
“It’s a great atmosphere at Ally Pally, but well, we’re looking at it [moving the world championships]. And we’re going to be very adventurous because we have tremendous demands all around the world for people that want to play in the World Darts Championship from different countries.
“So we’ve got to start looking at making the World Championships bigger. If I went from 96 players to 128 for example, which I can easily do in a heartbeat, it brings in a lot more TV money from different countries. And from the fans point of view, it gives me an extra 25,000 seats.
“Still nowhere near enough. I could sell a quarter of a million seats for the world championship. I sell 90,000. Do I go into the big hall? I think there’s a lot of work, but that would give me 6000 seats. And I’d still be at Ally Pally. Or do I go somewhere else?
“Everyone will say, ‘are you gonna take it to Saudi?’ Well, no, don’t be silly. They’re not ready yet, But they won’t be far along. They won’t allow alcohol and the essence of darts is it’s party time, isn’t it? It’s fun as well as great sport.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Get email updates with the day’s biggest stories
