THE PDC World Series of Darts is set to visit Brisbane for the first time in 2018 as the global circuit continues to grow.
Details of dates and venues are still being finalised for next year's international World Series of Darts events, with a series of tournament worldwide being followed by the season-ending World Series of Darts Finals.
However, following the conclusion of the 2017 Ladbrokes World Series of Darts Finals to end the fifth year since the inception of the concept, some early details have been confirmed for next year's events.
The World Series of Darts will return to both Las Vegas - which hosted the hugely successful inaugural U.S. Darts Masters in July - and Shanghai, which has hosted events in both 2016 and 2017.
New Zealand also remains on the circuit for a fourth year following the growth of the Auckland Darts Masters since the event was introduced in 2015.
In Australia, Brisbane is to host the World Series of Darts for the first time in 2018 after being confirmed as a host city for the tournament.
PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter told ITV4: "We're looking at our options all the time.
"We've been in Dubai and Australia for a number of years now and we'll be continuing with those territories, although we are actually going to leave the Middle East out next year and be back there in 2019.
"In Australia we're looking at different options. We've been in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and we're going to bring Brisbane onto the circuit as well.
"We'll stay in New Zealand, in Auckland, and we'll certainly be back in Las Vegas after a fantastic first PDC event there since 2009 this summer, and of course China as well.
"This is a global sport now. We know that darts is played all around the world and it's a question of indicating which territories where there are high participation levels, interest through a TV audience. Maybe there's an expat British market there as well, we've seen that in Dubai, Australia and New Zealand.
"We won't make any secret of the fact that we're looking at territories where we know we're going to attract a fanbase, but we've got to grow the game and build some local talent.
"You need a domestic circuit, to be able to offer players a semi-pro option. We accept that they're not going to be able to become full-time darts players overnight and there's not too many that will take the Kyle Anderson route and come to the UK where the bulk of our tour is.
"But over time that will change, so we will build it with local tournaments, we'll invest in prize money, we'll invest in the youth and academies. It will be a generation, but you'll see in a number of years to come that [the sport] won't be just dominated by British and Dutch players as it maybe is at the moment."
Full details of the 2018 PDC World Series of Darts will be confirmed in due course at www.pdc.tv.