Michael van Gerwen: fortune and prize money of the darts champion

How much does Michael van Gerwen earn?

The Dutch darts professional Michael van Gerwen is the youngest PDC world champion so far. Mighty Mike won his first PDC World Championship in 2014 when he was only 25 years old. He has had a steep career and is now right at the top of the darts professionals. He is fighting again for the world championship among the best. To that extent is his considerable estimated fortune of 10 million euros not surprising.

Mighty Mike’s career

The darts professional from the Netherlands started early and reached the finals of the Primus Masters Youth 2003 at the tender age of 14. The years that followed he collected many youth titles, for example the German Gold Cup 2005 as well as the Norway Open 2005. There were many other prizes. It quickly became clear that he could make it to the top.

From 2003 to 2007 the Dutchman played for the BDO darts association. Here, too, he proves his great performance. At the age of 17 he won the Winmau World Masters 2006 and was the youngest winner of this event. In 2007 he announced that he was going to join the competing darts association PDC. There, too, he showed his good form and performed consistently well. At the Masters of Dart, the young Michael even beat darts legend Phil Taylor 3-0. He then even made it to the semi-finals, where he also made his own first nine-darter lay down. But then he had to admit defeat against van Barneveld.

Many successes of the darts professional Michael van Gerwen

This was followed by other competitions, but the next highlight came in April 2009 at the Players Championship in Taunton. There he won 6: 3 against Vincent van der Voort, which earned him a bonus of around 7,000 euros. Michael continued to prove his talent in darts and made it to the Top of the world’s best. He defeated greats like Steve Beaton and Adrian Lewis. He also replaced Phil “The Power” Taylor’s previous record with 16 perfect darts. Van Gerwen achieved 17 perfect darts in a row. In 2016 MVG was even able to play 18 perfect darts in a row. However, the series did not start at the beginning of the game, but in the previous leg at the 170 finish.

The Premier League Darts 2013 Mighty Mike won 10: 8 against “The Power”. The first world title was won against Peter Wright. On January 1, 2014, MVG won the final and replaced the leading Phil Taylor in the Order of Merit. Of course there was also rain in between. For example, the elimination in the semifinals of the 2015 World Cup against eventual winner Gary Anderson. In 2015 the first victory came at the Grand Slam of Darts and so he has won every major tournament of the PDC at least once.

At the 2016 World Cup, MVG was defeated by compatriot Raymond van Barneveld in the round of 16. 2016 brought a lot of good things to van Gerwen. He won the Premier League for the second time. In the semifinals he defeated Adrian Lewis and in the final he beat Phil Taylor. This year more TV tournaments were included in his list of winners. Among other things, the World Power Play, the Grand Slam of Darts and the World Grand Prix.

3 times darts world champion

On January 2nd, 2017 Michael van Gerwen won the PDC World Championship title. He defeated number 2 in the darts ranking, Gary Anderson, in an exciting final. MVG took the title 7: 3 and is well-deserved PDC world champion. The 2017 Darts World Cup was awarded a prize of £ 350,000.

In 2018, the Dutchman had to admit defeat in the semifinals against eventual world champion Rob Cross. He took home £ 85,000 anyway.

In the 2019 Darts World Cup, he won the world title for the third time in his career and took home £ 500,000.

At the Darts World Cup 2020 MVG was again in the final, but could not win against Peter Wright. (Consolation Prize Money: £ 200,000)

Large prize money for MVG

Some people mistakenly think that darts is a pub game. But it’s a professional league where you can really earn money. If you want to get rich with darts, you have to make it to the top of the world’s best. Michael van Gerwen shows how he has an estimated net worth of 10 million euros. Sometimes very high prizes are awarded for darts tournaments. There is an additional bonus for the nine darter, you get £ 25,000 on top of it at the World Cup. A nice bucket of money when you can set up a game of darts with only 9 arrows. If several players succeed in nine darts, then the money is divided between them.

Van Gerwen has earned a total of 9.85 million euros in darts prize money. In 2016 alone, the professional collected 1.5 million euros in prize money. In 2017 his prize money was around one million euros and in 2018 it was 1.3 million euros, in 2019 it was 1.7 million euros and in 2020 it was only 450,000 euros. In addition, there are income from advertising contracts and bonus money, which also contribute to the high fortune.

Michael van Gerwen and his wife Daphne Govers

2014 was the high point in MVG’s private life. In August 2014 Michael van Gerwen married his girlfriend Daphne Govers. The two were a couple for a few years. There was a rumor a while ago that Mighty Mike gave a woman his cell phone number at a tournament. The two should have then also written a few SMS to each other. Van Gerwen then emphasized that he was happy with his Daphne and was not interested in another lady. Maybe Mighty Mike really just had a weak moment when he gave his phone number. Shortly afterwards, he should have regained his senses. Daphne van Gerwen and her career are the center of life at MVG. To make their mutual happiness perfect, daughter Zoe was born in August 2017.

Break-in music by Mighty Mike

The warm-up music is not only known from the field of darts. Boxer Wladimir Klitschko, for example, has the song “Can’t Stop” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Michael van Gerwen has that for himself The opening song “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes. In the introductory video about him, which is shown before the darts game, Mighty Mike opted for “On Fire” by Raleigh Ritchie & Chris Loco.

_{Photos: @mvgofficial / Facebook}