How many days does the Grand Slam of Darts run in 2026?

The 2026 Grand Slam of Darts runs for nine days, from Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 November, at Aldersley Leisure Village (WV Active Aldersley) in Wolverhampton. Sessions run in the afternoon and the evening across those nine days.

How many players compete in the 2026 Grand Slam of Darts?

The 2026 field is 48 players, expanded from 32 for the first time in the tournament's history. The 48 are split into 16 groups of three for the group stage.

Are the 2026 session times confirmed?

The PDC has confirmed the tournament dates and the 48-player format, but not the session-by-session times. That detailed schedule is released alongside ticketing, closer to the event.

Who is the defending champion?

Luke Littler is the defending champion. He won the Grand Slam of Darts in 2024 and 2025 and enters 2026 as only the fourth player to defend the title, after Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price.

Which session has the loudest atmosphere?

The finals weekend has the loudest atmosphere, once the field has narrowed to the closing matches and the champion is crowned. Group-stage afternoons are the quietest end of the schedule.

Where is the tournament held?

The tournament is held at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, currently branded WV Active Aldersley. It has been staged in Wolverhampton since 2007 and at this venue since 2018.

Would hospitality be arranged around a single session?

That is how darts hospitality normally works, with a package built around one afternoon or evening rather than the whole tournament. For 2026 the position is different: no session is on sale, so none can be reserved. Sign up on the hospitality hub to hear first if one appears.

Grand Slam of Darts Sessions Explained

Published: 23 July 2026

The Grand Slam of Darts runs afternoon and evening sessions across nine days, from the group stage through the knockout rounds to finals night. Group-stage afternoons carry a relaxed atmosphere and the closing weekend is the loudest. Which session suits a corporate group depends on its size and on the occasion. Nothing has been released for the 2026 tournament, so the hospitality hub is taking registrations rather than bookings for now.

How many days does the Grand Slam of Darts run?

The 2026 Grand Slam of Darts runs across nine days, from Saturday 14 to Sunday 22 November, at Aldersley Leisure Village in Wolverhampton, branded today as WV Active Aldersley. That length is what turns session choice into a real decision. A one-night event gives a group a single option; this one offers nine days of afternoon and evening sessions to choose between.

What happens during the group stage?

The group stage opens the tournament across the early days of the nine-day schedule. For 2026 the field expands to 48 players for the first time in the tournament's history, split into 16 groups of three. Afternoons in this phase are the calmer part of the week: an easier introduction for a first-time darts group, or for a client meeting that still needs room for conversation. The noise arrives later on.

How does the tournament move from group stage to finals?

Once the group stage concludes, the strongest performers from each group progress into a knockout stage that runs across the middle days of the tournament and leads into the finals weekend. The field narrows and the sessions get louder with it. A mid-tournament evening carries a more charged atmosphere than a group-stage afternoon.

Which session suits a smaller or client-facing group?

A group-stage afternoon suits a smaller corporate group, a client meeting, or anyone new to darts hospitality. The venue is quieter than it will be later in the week, so a group can talk between sets without competing with an arena at full volume. There is still a full afternoon of live darts in front of you.

Which session suits a larger group or a big client night?

For a larger group or a big client-entertaining night, an evening session in the knockout rounds or a seat across the finals weekend is the better fit. The atmosphere sharpens as the tournament goes on, and the finals weekend is the loudest stretch of the nine days, right up to the moment the champion is crowned. That atmosphere is a large part of why darts has become so popular.

What happens on finals night?

Finals night closes the nine-day tournament and crowns the winner of the Eric Bristow Trophy. It is the session most groups plan a big night around. Luke Littler is the defending champion, having won the Grand Slam of Darts in both 2024 and 2025, and enters 2026 chasing a third consecutive title as only the fourth player in the tournament's history to defend it.

Is the exact 2026 session schedule confirmed yet?

The PDC has confirmed the nine-day window and the format change to 48 players, but not the session-by-session schedule. Which match falls on which day, and at what time, is released alongside ticketing rather than announced in advance. The shape of the tournament, group stage into knockout rounds into finals night, holds regardless of the exact daily breakdown, so planning can start before the detailed schedule lands. Our guide to getting Grand Slam of Darts tickets covers the ballot the PDC ran for 2026 and what is left now it has closed.

Matching a session to a corporate occasion

Matching a Grand Slam of Darts session to a corporate occasion

Session	Point in the nine-day run	Atmosphere	Best suited to
Group-stage afternoon	Early days	Relaxed, early-tournament feel	Client meetings, first-time darts groups, smaller parties
Group-stage evening	Early-to-middle days	Livelier, prime-time crowd	Team days out, mid-sized groups
Knockout rounds	Middle days	Rising intensity as the field narrows	Groups who want more drama without the finals-weekend crowd
Finals weekend	Closing days	Loudest, full-arena buzz, champion crowned	Larger groups, big client-entertaining nights, celebrations

How does the 2026 tournament compare with previous years?

The 2026 field of 48 players is the largest in the tournament's history and the first time it has grown beyond 32, as set out in our guide to the 48-player field expansion. The Grand Slam of Darts has been held in Wolverhampton since its first staging in 2007, moving from Wolverhampton Civic Hall to Aldersley Leisure Village in 2018. A bigger field means more players inside the same nine-day window, so session choice carries more weight for a group planning corporate darts hospitality than it once did.