Inside the Premier League of Darts: Format, Prize Money, and More Premier League Darts is one of the biggest and most lucrative tournaments on the calendar boasting a £1 million prize fund. First staged in 2005 and originally touring leisure centres and town halls in the UK, the Premier League of Darts is now a cross-continental event and is held in some of the largest indoor arenas across the UK, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands. The darts Premier League is played over 17 consecutive Thursday nights from February through to May each year, with eight of the world’s best players competing against each other to determine who is the premier player in the world of darts. The 2025 edition of the Premier League will mark the 21st year of the competition and is set to be one of the most exciting editions yet, as the newly crowned PDC world champion Luke Littler returns to defend the title he won on debut last year. Premier League Darts Format & Rules The Premier League Darts format has undergone many changes during its history, with seven and 10-player line ups, relegations, contenders and challengers all featuring at some point in the first 20 years of its existence. Ahead of the 2022 season, the Premier League Darts new format saw eight players selected and a nightly tournament held every week with points on offer in each game. The top four players on the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) Order of Merit automatically qualify, which in 2025 is Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross. These four players are joined by four wildcards, and in 2025 the PDC's picks are Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price, Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall. The first 16 weeks of the competition sees the eight selected players compete in a nightly tournament with all matches played over the best of 11 legs. The current darts Premier League format sees five points awarded to the winner of each night, three points to the runner-up and two points to each of the losing semi-finalists. The four losing quarter-finalists do not score any points. The points go towards a league table with the top four players after the 16 weeks qualifying for the end of season play-offs, with first playing fourth and second facing third in the semi-finals, which are the best of 19 legs. The Premier League Darts final format is slightly longer with it being the best of 21 legs. The winner of the final is crowned the Premier League Darts champion. Who is competing in the Premier League of Darts 2025? Stephen Bunting (pictured above) makes his long-awaited return to the Premier League in 2025, having previously competed in the 2015 season and as a 'challenger' in 2020 Luke Humphries - 2024 PDC world champion Luke Littler – 2025 PDC world champion Michael van Gerwen – 7-time Premier League champion Rob Cross – 2018 PDC world champion Stephen Bunting - 2024 Masters champion Gerwyn Price – 2021 PDC world champion Chris Dobey - 2023 Masters champion Nathan Aspinall – 2023 World Matchplay champion What is the Premier League Darts prize money? The Premier League Darts prize money has risen over the years, starting off with a £150,000 total prize pot in 2005 and reaching the £1 million mark in 2022. The £1 million prize fund is split between the eight players, with a £10,000 bonus on offer during each of the first 16 weeks of the tournament. The nightly winner will pocket the bonus each night, whilst the final league standings and the play-offs carries the majority of the prize fund... Premier League play-offsWinner - £275,000Runner-up - £125,000Semi-finalists - £85,000 Premier League final standings5th place - £75,0006th place - £70,0007th place - £65,0008th place - £60,000 The Premier League's £1 million prize pot sits only behind the PDC World Darts Championship (£2.5 million) in terms of the biggest tournament prize funds in the game. Have you ever wondered how much money the top professionals actually earn though? Find out more in our 'How Much Do Dart Players Make?' blog. Schedule & Locations The Premier League Darts season sees the players compete every Thursday evening in a different city before the champion is crowned in the play-offs. Here’s a look at the schedule for the 2025 Premier League Darts season… February 6 - Night 1 - Belfast (The SSE Arena) February 13 - Night 2 - Glasgow (OVO Hydro) February 20 - Night 3 - Dublin (3Arena) February 27 - Night 4 - Exeter (Westpoint Exeter) March 6 - Night 5 - Brighton (The Brighton Centre) March 13 - Night 6 - Nottingham (Motorpoint Arena) March 20 - Night 7 - Cardiff (Utilita Arena) March 27 - Night 8 - Newcastle (Utilita Arena) April 3 - Night 9 - Berlin (Uber Arena) April 10 - Night 10 - Manchester (AO Arena) April 17 - Night 11 - Rotterdam (Rotterdam Ahoy) April 24 - Night 12 - Liverpool (M&S Bank Arena) May 1 - Night 13 - Birmingham (Utilita Arena) May 8 - Night 14 - Leeds (First Direct Arena) May 15 - Night 15 - Aberdeen (P&J Live) May 22 - Night 16 - Sheffield (Utilita Arena) May 29 - Play-Offs - London (The O2) Another year of darts excellence! With crowds in their thousands flocking to see the world’s best darts players in action, the Premier League of Darts shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Every dart of the 2025 Premier League will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland, whilst the PDC’s other worldwide broadcasters include DAZN and Viaplay, and their own PDCTV service which meant darts fans all over the world can tune in and watch the action unfold. The 2025 season will provide plenty of entertainment with the race to the play-offs expected to go right down to the wire. Last year's Premier League season saw Michael Smith beat Nathan Aspinall in a winner-takes-all showdown in Sheffield to qualify for finals night. 'Bully Boy' joined Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen in the end of season play-offs when the champion was crowned at The O2, in London. Both semi-finals finished 10-5, as Littler beat Smith 10-5 and Humphries ended van Gerwen's reign as champion to set up a repeat of the World Championship final. And it was the teenage star Littler who triumphed in the final, throwing a nine-dart leg on his way to an 11-7 win against Humphries to win his first major title at the age of just 17. Ahead of the new Premier League season, get your own darts setup ready with our full range of dartboards, darts shirts, dart flights and darts cases. Pictures: PDC Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts. Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.
