Luke Humphries will defend his US Darts Masters title in New York as the PDC’s World Series event prepares to close in front of a record 5,000-strong American darts crowd.
The 2026 bet365 US Darts Masters begins at the Infosys Theater inside Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final to follow on Friday. Humphries opens against Leonard Gates, while Luke Littler, Gian van Veen, Gerwyn Price, James Wade, Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock complete the PDC representatives in a 16-player field.
The strongest line in the build-up is not only the draw. It is the scale. A sold-out Friday crowd of 5,000 would mark a new record for a darts event in the United States, underlining why the New York stop has become the flagship American leg of the World Series.
Humphries Returns To A Bigger Stage
Humphries won last year’s title at Madison Square Garden by beating Nathan Aspinall 8-6, and his defence now carries extra weight after England’s recent World Cup success alongside Littler.
According to Online Darts’ US Darts Masters preview, Humphries described the event as the most prestigious World Series title to win and said Madison Square Garden remains one of the best venues in the world.
For the PDC, Friday’s attendance figure is the wider marker. If the Lukes, Van Veen or Price deliver a marquee final in front of that crowd, New York will look less like an exhibition stop and more like a serious growth market.
