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 one of the six unranked televised tournaments.
The matches take place every Thursday evening between February and May and are played at various venues across the UK, Ireland and Europe, including Germany and the Netherlands.
Who takes part in Premier League Darts?
The Premier League has eight of the best players in the world. The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualify and are joined by four wildcards, chosen 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 squad will be exclusively revealed 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' to compete against one of the regulars – John Henderson springs to mind when he wowed his home crowd in Aberdeen by earning a memorable draw against Michael van Gerwen.
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John Henderson rocked the Aberdeen crowd as he returned as a Premier League challenger in 2020.
From 2022, the format has changed so that an eight-person knockout group competes each night.
Each of the players meet once in Weeks 1-7 and again in Weeks 9-15, with Weeks 8 and 16 drawn based on league standings.
How each player performs each night will earn them 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 semi-finalists lost: 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 games, while the final is played in 21 matches.
Intricate selection process
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Highlights of the 2024 World Grand Prix between Luke Humphries and Mike De Decker
PDC chief executive Matt Porter admits it will be “tricky” to pick the names for this year's tournament with so many top players who failed to reach the heights last year.
He said Sky Sports: “We have to look for stars and people who can perform on the big stage.
“It will be an interesting announcement. We certainly won't 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?
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Luke Littler won the Premier League in his debut campaign after beating Luke Humphries 11-7 in the final
The defending champion is Luke 'The Nuke' Littler. The newly crowned teenage world champion from Warrington won the Premier League title in his debut campaign with a memorable 11-7 victory over Luke Humphries during which he hit his fourth nine-dart 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 during 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 it once.
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Watch MVG win a record seventh Premier League title in style at the O2 in London…
2025 BetMGM Premier League Dates Confirmed
A crowd of 14,000 turned out at London's O2 Arena to watch Littler win his first Premier League title in May
Night 1 – SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday 6th 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 15 May
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday 22.05
playoffs – O2, London – Thursday 29 May
Watch Premier League Darts on Sky Sports
Littler will aim to defend his Premier League darts title
See all the action from Premier League he Sky Sports with Luke Littler wants to defend his title. The new Premier League season kicks off in Belfast on Thursday 6th February as the biggest entertainment in darts returns.
Who will be in this Premier League darts line-up? Watch live on Sky Sports News from 4.30pm on Monday 6 January and catch all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and other top sports with SADA.