Premier League Darts: What are the criteria? What is the format? Does Luke Littler play? | News about darts
How does Premier League Darts work? Here’s a guide to everything you need to know about the tournament, which you can watch live on Sky Sports between February and May.
The Premier League Darts is an annual PDC tournament that was established in 2005. It is not one of the seven ranked majors, but it is one of six non-ranked televised tournaments.
The matches take place every Thursday night between February and May and are played at various venues across the UK, Ireland and Europe, which includes Germany and the Netherlands.
Who takes part in Premier League Darts?
The eight best players in the world are playing in the Premier League. The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualify and are joined by four wildcards, selected by the PDC. This is how Littler, who 12 months ago was ranked outside the top 150 in the Order of Merit, was selected for last year’s tournament.
The 2025 line-up will be revealed exclusively live on Sky Sports News from 4.30pm on Monday 6 January.
What is the format?
For the 2019 and 2020 seasons, the stars were joined by a different ‘challenger’ competing against one of the regulars – John Henderson comes to mind when he wowed his home crowd in Aberdeen with a memorable draw against Michael van Gerwen.
From 2022, the format has changed so that a knockout group of eight players competes each night.
Each player faces each other in Weeks 1-7 and again in Weeks 9-15, with Weeks 8 and 16 drawn based on league standings.
As each player performs each night they will earn points which will determine their place in the Premier League table, the scoring system is as follows.
- Winner: 5 points
- Runners-up: 3 points
- Two defeated semi-finalists: 2 points
After Week 16, the top four in league history compete in the semifinals and finals, with the former playing fourth and the latter playing third.
The semi-finals of the final night in London’s O2 Arena are played in 19 legs, while the final is played in 21 legs.
Intricate selection process
PDC chief executive Matt Porter admits it will be “difficult” to pick names for this year’s tournament with so many top players who failed to reach the heights of last year.
He said Sky Sports: “We have to look for star quality and people who can perform on the big stage.
“It’s going to be an interesting announcement. We’re certainly not going to please everyone, but we feel we have to make the decisions that are right for the millions who will be watching on TV and the 150,000 who will be joining us in the big arenas.
“Whatever decision we make, as long as people are talking about it, we made the right decision.”
Who won the Premier League title?
The defending champion is Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler. Newly crowned world champions, the teenager from Warrington won the Premier League title in his debut campaign, with a memorable 11-7 win over Luke Humphries during which he hit his fourth nine-darter of 2024.
Michael van Gerwen won a record seven titles (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023).
He overtook Phil Taylor as the tournament’s most successful player, as Taylor won six titles in his career (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012).
Gary Anderson won it twice (2011, 2015), while James Wade (2009), Raymond van Barneveld (2013), Glen Durrant (2020) and Jonny Clayton (2021) each won once.
BetMGM Premier League 2025 dates confirmed
Night 1 – SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday 6 February
Night 2 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday 13 February
Night 3 – 3Arena, Dublin – Thursday 20 February
Night 4 – Westpoint Exeter – Thursday 27 February
Night 5 – Brighton Center – Thursday 6 March
Night 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday 13 March
Night 7 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff – Thursday 20 March
Night 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday 27 March
Night 9 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday, April 3
Night 10 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday 10 April
Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday, April 17
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday 24th April
Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday 1 May
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday 8 May
Night 15 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday 15th May
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday 22 May
Play-offs – O2, London – Thursday, May 29
Watch Premier League Darts on Sky Sports
Watch all the action from Premier League on Sky Sports with Luke Littler wants to defend his title. The new Premier League season will kick off in Belfast on Thursday, February 6, when the biggest party in darts returns.
Who will be in this Premier League Darts line-up? Watch the reveal live on Sky Sports News from 4.30pm on Monday 6 January and watch all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sports with NOW.
