Premier League Darts, known for sponsorship purposes as BetMGM Premier League Darts, is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnightly fixture in small venues around the United Kingdom. The tournament originally featured seven players, gradually expanded to ten by 2013, before reduced again from 2022 to eight players from the Professional Darts Corporation circuit competing in a knockout style format, with nights also hosted in Europe at different venues. The top four players in the PDC Order of Merit are joined by four wildcard selections to make up the eight-person field. Alongside the World Championship and the World Matchplay, it is considered part of the sport's Triple Crown.
While active, Phil Taylor dominated the event, winning six of the thirteen tournaments he appeared in. He went unbeaten throughout the first three seasons before James Wade ended his 44 match run in the first match of the 2008 season. A new champion was to be crowned after Mervyn King defeated him in the 2009 semi-finals, where Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. Taylor defeated Wade the following season to claim his fifth title in the competition in 2010, achieving two nine-dart finishes in the final, the only player to achieve this accomplishment.
Although there have been nine overall winners of the Premier League, the league stage has been dominated by Taylor and Michael van Gerwen, with Taylor topping the table for each of the first eight editions and van Gerwen winning the next seven. In 2020, Glen Durrant became the third player to finish top after all league fixtures had been completed. He went on to win the title, meaning all three players both topped the table and won the play-offs at their first attempt. In 2024, this feat was then repeated by Luke Littler who became the fourth player to both top the table following the completion of the league stage and then win the play-offs on their debut Premier League appearance.
The prize fund has risen from £265,000 in the early years of the tournament, steadily increasing each year for a prize fund of £1,250,000 in 2026. The winner currently receives £350,000.
Television coverage The matches have been broadcast on Thursday nights on Sky Sports since the tournament inception. Originally the league alternated with Premier League Snooker one week and Premier League Darts the next. From 2006, the snooker moved to late autumn – giving the Premier League darts a straight weekly run in the spring.
American sports channel OLN aired the 2006 Premier League Darts season on a slight delay, in August 2006. In 2018, BBC America started airing Premier League Darts on Thursday nights. In 2020, BBC America started airing Premier League Darts on Sunday mornings.
German sports channel Sport1 broadcasts most matches live on TV and gives coverages of a selection of matches.
The PDC announced in December 2017 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2025.
Finals Year Final Tournament Champion Score Runner-up Best of Venue Prize Fund Sponsors Players Venues League winner200516–431 legsG-Mex, Manchester£150,000888.com711200616–6£167,500Holsten200716–6The Brighton Centre, Brighton£265,000815200816–8£340,000Whyte & Mackay200913–8Wembley Arena, London£405,000201010–819 legs£410,000201110–4888.com201210–7The O2 Arena, London£450,000McCoy's201310–8£520,00010201410–6£550,000Betway16201511–721 legs£700,000201611–3£725,0002017£825,0002018Unibet152019 9162020Coventry Arena, Coventry8 2021£855,0001012022£1,000,000Cazoo81720232024BetMGM20252026£1,250,000
Records and statistics
Total finalist appearances RankPlayerWonRunner-upFinalsAppearances172914262813321334202115123312312710114101210141001130113011501120111001160119011501140113011101110118 Active players are shown in bold Only players who reached the final are included In the event of identical records, players are sorted by date first achieved
Champions by country CountryPlayersTotalFirst titleLast title51120052026282013202312201120151120212021
Nine-dart finishes Twenty-one nine-dart finishes have been thrown in the Premier League. The first one was in 2006, and the most recent one was in 2026. PlayerYear (+ Week)LocationMethodOpponentResult2006, Week 5Bournemouth3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D128–32010, Week 12Aberdeen3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D128–62010, FinalLondonT20, 2 x T19; 3 x T20; T20, T17, D1810–83 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D122012, Week 2Aberdeen3 x T20; T20, 2 x T19; T20, T17, D188–52012, Semi-FinalLondon3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T15, D188–62016, Week 11Belfast3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D127–52017, Week 11Liverpool3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D127–42020, Week 4Dublin3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D127–52020, Night 11Milton Keynes3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D126–82021, Night 3Milton Keynes3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D127–32021, Night 4Milton Keynes3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D126–62022, Night 3Belfast2 x T20, T19; 3 x T20; 2 x T20, D126–53 x T20; 3 x T20; T19, T20, D126–42024, Night 10Manchester3 x T20; 3 x T20; T19, T20, D126–32024, FinalLondon3 x T20, 3 x T20; T20, T19, D1211–72025, Night 5Brighton3 x T20, 3 x T20; T20, T19, D124–63 x T20; 3 x T20; T19, T16, D185–62025, Night 7Cardiff3 x T20, 3 x T20; T20, T17, D156–42025, Night 10Manchester3 x T20, 3 x T20; T19, T20, D12 3–62025, Night 15Aberdeen3 x T20, 3 x T20; T19, T20, D12 4–62026, Night 4Belfast3 x T20, 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 2–6
Tournament records Most titles: 7 – Michael van Gerwen Most tournament appearances: 14 – Raymond van Barneveld Most matches played: 211 – Raymond van Barneveld Longest unbeaten run: 44 matches – Phil Taylor (2005–2008) Biggest victories (league stage): 11–1 Phil Taylor v Wayne Mardle (2005), 11–1 Phil Taylor v Peter Manley (2005) Biggest victories (playoff stages): 16–4 Phil Taylor v Colin Lloyd (2005 final) Most 180s by one player in a single match: 12 – Luke Littler v Luke Humphries (2026 final) Most 100+ averages in a season: 20 – Luke Littler (2026) Highest match average: 123.40 – Michael van Gerwen (2016) Highest tournament average: 107.49 – Michael van Gerwen (2016) Highest group stage overall average: 107.95 – Phil Taylor (2012) Lowest group stage overall average: 86.36 – Glen Durrant (2021) Highest average in the final: 112.37 – Michael van Gerwen (2018) Most points in a single season: 45 - Luke Littler (2025)
Whitewashes YearPlayerLegsPlayer 2007 0–8 2008 8–0 2012 8–0 2014 0–7 2015 0–7 2016 0–7 2016 0–7 2017 0–7 2018 0–7 2019 0–7 2020 0–7 2021 0–7 2022 6–0 2023 0–6 2023 6–0 2025 6–0 2026 0–6 2026 0–6 2026 6–0 2026 0–6
High averages Ten highest Premier League one-match averagesAveragePlayerYear (+ Round)OpponentResult123.402016, Week 47–1119.502017, Week 57–2118.432025, Week 106–1117.952016, Week 107–5117.352012, Week 48–4116.902015, Week 127–0116.672016, Week 57–2116.102012, Week 138–1116.012009, Week 128–3115.972023, Week 116–2
Five highest tournament averagesAveragePlayerYear 107.482016106.732012105.262015104.682017104.112018
Appearances Since the tournament made its debut in 2005, Phil Taylor made an appearance in every Premier League competition until his retirement following the 2018 PDC World Darts Championship. Raymond van Barneveld competed in every Premier League from 2006 to 2019. From 2005 until the 2010 tournament, the top six players in the PDC Order of Merit after the PDC World Darts Championship automatically qualified, with one wildcard (2005 and 2006) and two wildcards (2007–2010) chosen by either the PDC or Sky Sports. From the 2011 tournament, only the top four in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualified, with four wildcards (2011 and 2012) chosen by both the PDC and Sky Sports. In 2013, the tournament grew from eight players to ten, with the top four players in the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualifying and six other players chosen as Wildcards on the basis of their performance in the past year or in earlier editions of the Premier League. In 2022, the tournament shrank back down to eight.
In 2024, both Luke Humphries and Luke Littler have made their debuts, with Littler, aged 17 years and 11 days when the 2024 campaign began, the youngest ever competitor in the Premier League. Littler would also become the youngest player to win the Premier League, aged 17 years and 123 days.
Premier League players and performance Player # 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 13 W W W W SF W SF W RU SF 5 RU SF × 3 RU SF 5 × 4 SF 6 6 6 × 3 SF RU 8 × 1 5 × 3 6 × 8 6 × 4 7 7 × 5 WD × 14 × SF SF SF SF 6 SF 5 SF W SF 7 6 6 9 × 2 × 5 × 5 × 5 × RU 7 5 8 7 × 1 × SF × C × 10 × 7 SF C 7 RU 6 8 6 6 SF 8 × 12 × RU W RU 5 SF SF × 7 6 7 × SF × 6 SF × 2 × RU SF × 2 × 7 × 9 × 6 × SF 6 RU 6 10 × 8 × 11 × C × W 8 10 SF W SF SF SF WD SF 8 8 × 1 × C × 8 × 2 × SF 7 × 1 × 7 × 14 × W RU RU W W W W 6 SF W W SF 5 6 3 × C × 5 8 × 8 × 2 × 9 9 × 11 × 5 9 5 RU 7 8 SF 7 5 8 8 × 4 × 7 SF 9 5 × 3 × 8 × C × 8 5 2 × 10 × 10 × 7 × 10 × RU 7 7 × 6 SF SF × 6 × SF RU 9 9 × 6 7 × 3 × 5 SF 8 × 2 × 9 6 × 8 × 10 5 5 WD 7 RU 7 SF SF 5 × C RU SF × 5 5 SF × 2 × C W 10 × 2 × C × 5 × 6 × 4 × C W SF SF × SF 1 × RU × 1 × RU × 2 × C C × 7 × 6 × 3 × C C × RU W RU 3 × W RU W 1 × 7 1 × 8
Table Legend W Won in playoffs RU Runner-up SF Lost in the semi-finals #Place in table, not qualified for playoffs # Place in table, relegated WD Withdrew before tournament WD Withdrew during tournament C Challenger × Did not play
When Gary Anderson withdrew from the 2019 season just before it began, Chris Dobey, Glen Durrant, Steve Lennon, Luke Humphries, John Henderson, Nathan Aspinall, Max Hopp, Dimitri Van den Bergh and Jeffrey de Zwaan were named as "contenders" to play in Anderson's place each of the first eight weeks. This format was reused for the 2020 season, with nine regular players and nine challengers; Henderson, Fallon Sherrock, Jonny Clayton, William O'Connor, Humphries, Bunting, Dobey, de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena were the challengers.
References
External links Premier League Darts page on the PDC website