THE Professional Darts Corporation are delighted to announce a PDC Unicorn Youth Tour to be launched in 2011, while both the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and 2011 Premier League Darts have passed £1 million each in ticket sales.
The PDC have successfully staged the inaugural PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship this year, with Michael van Gerwen and Arron Monk to compete on Monday night in the final at Alexandra Palace.
The PDC Unicorn Youth Tour will comprise of 15 events, each with £2,000 prize money, to be played during PDC ProTour weekends, beginning in Derby on Saturday February 19.
Entry to the events will be open to all players aged between 14-21. Entry for events will be made via the PDC and full details of the schedule of events will be announced shortly.
In addition there will be a £30,000 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship, and the prize money won will form an Order of Merit, from which players will qualify for PDC ProTour cards in 2012 and other rewards.
"The PDC realised that there was a void between players playing in Youth Academies around the country and then stepping onto the professional circuit in the PDC ProTour," said PDC Director Rod Harrington.
"The PDC Unicorn Youth Tour will be the perfect stepping stone not only in their playing careers but also to give the players of the future the experience of playing in a professional environment.
"I was so impressed with the standard of play in the PDC Unicorn Under-21 World Championship recently that it has only encouraged us to step forward with our plans for the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour."
Unicorn Managing Director Edward Lowy said: "With the PDC as the gatekeepers of professional darts, we are delighted to join forces in the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour to open the door of opportunity for the darting stars of tomorrow.
"It is without doubt the most exciting darts initiative that I have been involved with in recent times."
Meanwhile, the PDC have also announced that gate receipts for both the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and the 2011 Premier League Darts have passed through the £1 million barrier.
Each have proven the most popular in their history, with the World Championship heading for a sold-out conclusion with Monday's final in front of 2,500 fan at Alexandra Palace.
The Premier League Darts season will begin on February 10 at The O2 in London, where a crowd of up to 10,000 fans are expected to attend, and will visit a further 14 arenas around the UK on successive Thursday's as eight top players compete in the darts' widest-reaching event.
"The success of the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship and 2011 Premier League Darts shows the continued appetite of the British sporting public for seeing the very best darts players competing on the biggest stages," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.
"Crowds at PDC tournaments have increased remarkably in recent years and we have welcomed almost 40,000 fans to Alexandra Palace in the past fortnight for the Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship.
"Additionally, around 80,000 fans will watch the Premier League Darts season over the 15 weeks in venues as far afield as Belfast, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Exeter, with many arenas already close to being fully sold out.
"Darts is enjoying a tremendous boom at present, as Phil Taylor's recognition in being voted in second place in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards recently shows.
"We gave a new crop of hungry, exciting and talented players within the PDC and they are being given the greatest stage to play on."