The world's best darts players are getting ready for one of the biggest events on the PDC calendar that takes place outside of the UK and Europe, as the 2024 Australian Darts Masters gets underway from Wollongong in New South Wales. Rob Cross is the defending champion, but there's plenty of competition if he's to retain his crown.
Pitting eight of the highest-ranking PDC players against the top eight professionals from Australia and New Zealand, this year's Australian Darts Masters will see two of the world's leading players at the moment – world champion Luke Humphries and Premier League winner Luke Littler – play at this tournament for the first time.
World number one Humphries and 17-year-old sensation Littler will be keen to make a big impression on their first appearances down under, but they'll also have to contend with some of the best Oceanian players like Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock.
It's all set up to be another fast-paced weekend of world-class darts action from the Illawarra Region of Australia, and The Sporting News has all the information you'll need to follow via your TV or chosen streaming service.
When is the 2024 Australian Darts Masters?
The 2024 Australian Darts Masters is the latest Professional Darts Players Association event this year, and starts on Friday, August 9 from the WIN Sports and Entertainment Centre in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
Both the First Round and the Finals on Saturday, August 10, 2024 begin at 7:00 p.m. local time (AEST) in the Illawarra Region of NSW, and here's how those start times translate for Darts fans across the world's major regions:
| Date | Round(s) | Time (AEST) | Time (BST) | Time (US – ET) |
| Friday, August 9 | First Round | 7:00 p.m. | 10:00 a.m. | 5:00 a.m. |
| Saturday, August 10 | Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Final | 7:00 p.m. | 10:00 a.m. | 5:00 a.m. |
The first round on Friday, August 9 will see eight of the PDC's best players representing the cream of the crop in the world of darts, and they'll face off against eight qualifiers from the Oceanic region (Australia and New Zealand) in the Round of 16.
Day 2 begins with the quarterfinals, which like the first round are played over the best of 11 legs. Heading into the last four, the parameters are moved up to best of 13, while in the final, it's a best-of-15 shoot-out between the last two remaining players to see who'll lift the 2024 title in Wollongong.
How to watch Australian Darts Masters: TV channel, live stream
Australia: Foxtel and Kayo will be providing live coverage of all the action from the tournament in Wollongong.
United Kingdom: The Australian Darts Masters will be broadcasted both live and on catch-up by ITV, who are providing free-to-air coverage on ITV4 across both days, with their ITVX streaming service also showing the action. ITV4 will be showing the concluding sessions on Day 2 of the competition.
USA: DAZN is the place for US-based darts fans to catch all the action from this weekend's event, and the PDC's subscription service PDCTV are also providing live coverage and streaming for viewers across the globe, including in the UK, US and Australia.
Who is playing at the 2024 Australian Darts Masters?
Defending champion Rob Cross will be hoping to claim back-to-back titles as one of the eight PDC representatives heading to Wollongong this year, and is ranked fourth amongst those in the current standings. Luke Humphries and Luke Littler are always ones to watch having both claimed massive victories throughout 2024 so far.
Humphries, Littler and Cross aren't joined by world number three Michael van Gerwen down under, but last year's beaten finalist, Australian Damon Heta, is also one of the PDC representatives, giving Australia and New Zealand a 9-7 advantage in terms of playing numbers! PDC World Tour regular Simon Whitlock is the highest ranked of the Oceanic players.
| PDC Representatives (Country) | Oceanic Representatives (Country) |
| Luke Humphries (England) | Simon Whitlock (Australia) |
| Michael Smith (England) | Haupai Puha (New Zealand) |
| Gerwyn Price (Wales) | Brenton Lloyd (Australia) |
| Rob Cross (England) | Rob Modra (Australia) |
| Peter Wright (Scotland) | Stuart Coburn (Australia) |
| Luke Littler (England) | Joe Comito (Australia) |
| Dimitri Van den Bergh (Belgium) | John Hurring (New Zealand) |
| Damon Heta (Australia) | Jeremy Fragg (Australia) |
The first round will play out as follows:
- Dimitri Van den Bergh vs. Jeremy Fagg
- Gerwyn Price vs. Brenton Lloyd
- Michael Smith vs. Stuart Coburn
- Luke Humphries vs. Joe Comito
- Luke Littler vs. Rob Modra
- Peter Wright vs. Simon Whitlock
- Damon Heta vs. John Hurring
- Rob Cross vs. Haupai Puha
2024 Australian Darts Masters prize money
The total prize pot for the 2024 Australian Darts Masters stands at £60,000 going into this year's tournament. The winner of the 16-player tournament will receive a third of this amount with £20,000, and that halves going back into each of the earlier stages of the tournament. Each player is guaranteed at least £1,250 from the first round onwards.
- Winner – £20,000
- Runner-up – £10,000
- Semifinalists – £5,000
- Quarterfinalists – £2,500
- First Round – £1,250