The European Championship is due to take place between 22 and 25 October, 2026. It sees Gian van Veen as the defending champion and acts as the closer to the current season on the European Tour.

The Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht completes the season and will form the field, which will be headlined by former champion Ross Smith as well as Wessel Nijman. Luke Littler will be currently seventh as well as Luke Humphries in eighth. Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, and James Wade, among others, also headline the field.

It will be done based on the top 32 in the Order of Merit, so Ross Smith will be top seed over Luke Littler, who will be seventh seed currently. The ranking money earned in the 15 European Tour events that were held as part of the PDC Pro Tour holds the key to getting into this tournament.

It will be shown in the UK on ITV4 in its entirety as well as ITVX. It will start every night at 6pm UK time, which is 7pm local time in Germany as well as in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.

Luke Littler won't be top seed.

The sessions will last for around four hours, from 6pm to 10pm in the UK, and it will also have an afternoon session on the Saturday from 12pm. As well as Sunday, where there will be an afternoon session before the final takes place on Sunday night.

When do the matches begin on Thursday at European Championship Darts?

Further afield, it will be shown on Viaplay in the Netherlands as well as DAZN in Germany, and for anyone else who cannot access the coverage in their territory, it will also be shown on PDCTV for the price of their annual subscription at no extra cost.

But this is location dependent, and so will need to be checked locally to see if it is different elsewhere. In the UK, though, it is on free-to-air all weekend, likely with the usual pundits and commentators, including Wayne Mardle and Chris Mason, among others.

European Championship Darts 2026 TV Schedule