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2026 Premier League Darts

2026 BetMGM Premier League Darts
Winner
Runner-up
Score
Dates
5 February – 28 May 2026
Edition
22nd
Number of players
8
Venues
17
Premier League Darts
< 2025 | 2026 | 2027 >

2026 Premier League Darts (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2026 BetMGM Premier League)[1] is an ongoing professional darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The 22nd edition of Premier League Darts, the event began on 5 February 2026 at the Newcastle Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne and will end with the play-offs at the O2 Arena in London on 28 May 2026. The total prize fund is £1,250,000, with the overall winner receiving £350,000 and each weekly winner receiving a £10,000 bonus.

The eight-player tournament begins with a 16-week league stage. Following the league stage, the top four players will compete in the play-offs. The 2026 edition marked the introduction of Belgium to the schedule, with a night in Antwerp being included for the first time. Gian van Veen and Josh Rock are making their Premier League debuts. Luke Humphries entered the tournament as the defending champion, having defeated Luke Littler 11–8 in the 2025 final.

Overview

Background

2026 Premier League Darts is the 22nd edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since the inaugural event in 2005.[2] The inaugural event was played in venues across the United Kingdom and was won by Phil Taylor, who defeated Colin Lloyd 16–4 in the final.[3][4] Taylor won six of the first eight editions of the tournament, only being stopped by James Wade in 2009 and Gary Anderson in 2011.[5] The amount of participants in the event has varied over time. Originally consisting of seven players, a wildcard spot was introduced for the 2007 edition to bring the total to eight.[6][7] The number increased to ten ahead of the 2013 edition,[8] before reverting back to eight players in 2022.[9] The tournament has expanded outside of the United Kingdom, with nights held in Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, as well as Belgium from 2026 onward.[10][4]

The 2026 Premier League is taking place from 5 February to 28 May 2026.[11] Sportsbook BetMGM continued its sponsorship of the event after becoming title sponsor in 2024.[12] Luke Humphries entered the tournament as defending champion after defeating Luke Littler 11–8 in the 2025 final to win his first Premier League title.[13][14]

Format

The 2026 Premier League uses the same format that was introduced for the 2022 edition.[15] It remains an eight-person knockout bracket every Thursday night. The players are guaranteed to meet each other once in the quarter-finals throughout the first seven weeks, and once in the quarter-finals in weeks 9–15, with weeks 8 and 16 being drawn based on the league standings at that point. Players receive two points per semi-final finish, three points per runner-up finish, and five points per final win. Following the league phase, the top four players in the table contest the two play-off semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd, where the winners progress to the Premier League final.[16]

All matches are played in leg format, with the number of legs required to win increasing as the tournament progresses:

  • League stage: Best of 11 legs
  • Semi-finals: Best of 19 legs
  • Final: Best of 21 legs

Prize money

As part of the PDC's biggest prize money increase in its history, the prize fund for the 2026 Premier League is £1,250,000, up from £1,000,000 the previous year. The champion will receive £350,000 and each night's winner during the league phase will earn a £10,000 bonus.[17]

Stage Prize money
Winner £350,000
Runner-up £170,000
Semi-finalists (x2) £110,000
5th place £95,000
6th place £90,000
7th place £85,000
8th place £80,000
Weekly winner bonus (x16) £10,000
Total £1,250,000

Broadcasts

The tournament is being broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Other broadcasters include AMC Networks in Hungary; DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; Sport1 in Germany; Eurasian Broadcasting in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan; FanDuel TV in the United States and Brazil; Peacock in the United States and Canada; Fox Sports in Australia; L'Équipe in France; Nova in the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Sky Sport in New Zealand; VTM in Belgium; Arena Sport in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo; TV3 in the Baltic states; Viaplay in the Netherlands, Iceland, Denmark and Norway; beIN Sports in the Middle East and North Africa; and Zonasport in Croatia. It is also available for subscribers outside of Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the PDC's streaming service, PDCTV.[18]

Venues

The 2026 Premier League consists of 17 nights, held in cities across the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The 2026 edition marked the introduction of Belgium to the schedule, with a night at the AFAS Dome in Antwerp replacing Westpoint Exeter in Exeter.[11]

Locations of the 2025 Premier League venues in the UK and Ireland.
Other locations of the 2025 Premier League venues in Europe.
England Newcastle Belgium Antwerp Scotland Glasgow Northern Ireland Belfast
Newcastle Arena

Thursday 5 February

AFAS Dome

Thursday 12 February

OVO Hydro

Thursday 19 February

SSE Arena Belfast

Thursday 26 February

Wales Cardiff England Nottingham Republic of Ireland Dublin Germany Berlin
Cardiff International Arena

Thursday 5 March

Nottingham Arena

Thursday 12 March

3Arena

Thursday 19 March

Uber Arena

Thursday 26 March

England Manchester England Brighton Netherlands Rotterdam England Liverpool
Manchester Arena

Thursday 2 April

Brighton Centre

Thursday 9 April

Rotterdam Ahoy

Thursday 16 April

Liverpool Arena

Thursday 23 April

Scotland Aberdeen England Leeds England Birmingham England Sheffield
P&J Live

Thursday 30 April

Leeds Arena

Thursday 7 May

Arena Birmingham

Thursday 14 May

Sheffield Arena

Thursday 21 May

England London
The O2 Arena

Thursday 28 May

Players

Eight players were invited to participate in the event. The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit following the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship—Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen—qualified automatically.[19] The remaining players—Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price—were chosen as wildcard selections by the PDC, and were revealed live on Sky Sports News on 5 January 2026.[20] The announcement saw three changes made from the 2025 lineup, with Van Veen, Clayton and Rock replacing Rob Cross, Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall.[21] Van Veen and Rock are both making their Premier League debuts, while Clayton returned to the tournament for the first time since 2023.[16] Notable omissions from the tournament were Aspinall,[16] world number 10 Danny Noppert, and world number 11 James Wade.[22][23][24]

Player Appearance in
Premier League 		Consecutive
streak 		Order of Merit
rank 		Previous best performance
 Luke Littler (ENG) 3rd 3 1 Winner (2024)
 Luke Humphries (ENG) 3rd[a] 3 2 Winner (2025)
 Gian van Veen (NED) 1st 1 3 Debut
 Michael van Gerwen (NED) 14th 14 4 Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
 Jonny Clayton (WAL) 4th 1 5 Winner (2021)
 Stephen Bunting (ENG) 3rd[b] 2 7 8th (2015, 2025)
 Josh Rock (NIR) 1st 1 9 Debut
 Gerwyn Price (WAL) 8th 5 12 Runner-up (2023)
  1. ^ Humphries previously appeared as a one-off challenger in both 2019 and 2020.
  2. ^ Bunting previously appeared as a one-off challenger in 2020.

Summary

Night 1 – Night 16

On night one in Newcastle, reigning world champion Luke Littler faced Premier League debutant Gian van Veen in a rematch of the 2026 World Championship final. Van Veen won the match 6–4 before beating 2021 champion Jonny Clayton 6–4 in the semi-finals. He set up an all-Dutch final against Michael van Gerwen, who earned 6–2 wins over Stephen Bunting and defending champion Luke Humphries.[25] In the final, Van Gerwen defeated Van Veen 6–4 to claim his first Premier League nightly win in two years, having failed to win a night during the 2025 season.[26] In the Premier League's first visit to Antwerp on night two, Gerwyn Price reached the final following 6–5 victories over Van Veen and Clayton, the latter marking his 10th consecutive win against his Welsh compatriot. Price won the night by defeating Van Gerwen 6–3.[27] Ahead of the third week in Glasgow, the PDC announced that Van Gerwen had withdrawn from the night due to illness, leading to his scheduled opponent Littler receiving a bye to the semi-finals, as well as two points in the league table and an extra leg to his leg difference.[28][29] Clayton ended his losing streak to Price before beating Littler 6–1 and Van Veen 6–2 to win night three and move to the top of the league table.[30]

League stage

The fixtures were released on 22 January 2026.[1][31][32] All matches during the league stage are played to the best of 11 legs. Match winners are shown in bold and all players are accompanied by their three-dart average for the match.[33]

Standings

Five points are awarded for a night win, three points for the runner-up and two points for the losing semi-finalists. When players are tied on points, nights won is used first as a tie-breaker and after that overall matches won.

The top four players after 16 nights advance to the play-offs.

Pos Name Nights Matches Legs Scoring
Pts W RU SF QF Pld W L LF LA LD LWAT 100+ 140+ 180 A HC CR C%
1  Jonny Clayton 9 1 0 2 0 7 5 2 39 24 15 17 81 52 22 101.34 156 39/78 50.00%
2  Michael van Gerwen 8 1 1 0 0 6 5 1 33 20 7 [b] 14 66 36 18 97.05 167 33/76 43.42%
3  Gian van Veen 6 0 2 0 1 7 4 3 35 34 1 11 89 43 18 96.40 124 35/81 43.21%
4  Gerwyn Price 5 1 0 0 2 5 3 2 26 25 1 10 57 26 13 97.33 114 26/61 42.62%
5  Luke Humphries 4 0 0 2 1 5 2 3 24 25 -1 8 65 31 22 102.63 108 24/71 33.80%
6  Luke Littler 4 0 0 2 1 4 1 3 15 23 -7 [c] 7 48 24 16 98.97 107 15/46 32.61%
7  Stephen Bunting 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 3 9 18 -9 4 39 22 4 98.99 104 9/27 33.33%
8  Josh Rock 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 3 6 18 -12 2 37 14 3 92.76 140 6/21 28.57%

(C) Champion
(RU) Runner-up
(E) Eliminated
(Q) Qualified

As of 20 February 2026
(Week 3 of 16)

Streaks

Player Nights
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Play-offs
 Jonny Clayton SF W
 Michael van Gerwen W RU WD
 Gian van Veen RU QF RU
 Gerwyn Price QF W QF
 Luke Humphries SF QF SF
 Luke Littler QF SF
 Stephen Bunting QF
 Josh Rock QF
Legend: DNQ Did not qualify WD withdrew QF Lost in Quarterfinals SF Semi-finalist RU Runner-up W Night winner

Positions by week

Player Nights
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
 Jonny Clayton 3 1
 Michael van Gerwen 1 2
 Gian van Veen 2 4 3
 Gerwyn Price 5 2 4
 Luke Humphries 4 6 5
 Luke Littler 6 5 6
 Stephen Bunting 8 7
 Josh Rock 7 8

Notes

  1. ^ Van Gerwen withdrew from the night due to illness.
  2. ^ As a result of Michael van Gerwen withdrawing from night 3, Michael van Gerwen was awarded a -6 leg difference
  3. ^ As a result of Michael van Gerwen withdrawing from night 3, Luke Littler was awarded a +1 leg difference

References

  1. ^ a b Gorton, Josh (22 January 2026). "2026 Premier League fixtures confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
  2. ^ "Premier League". Mastercaller. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  3. ^ "Taylor Powers to title". Irish Examiner. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b Prenderville, Paul (24 February 2018). "Where next for Premier League Darts?". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  5. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Schedule, venues, players, format as Luke Littler returns as defending champion". Sky Sports. 5 February 2025. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  6. ^ "Premier League Darts to continue to 2010". Professional Darts Corporation. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  7. ^ Wilson, Steve (19 January 2007). "Lewis joins the Premier League". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  8. ^ "McCoy's Premier League expanded". Professional Darts Corporation. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  9. ^ "Premier League Darts: Tournament to undergo the most radical change in its history". Sky Sports. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
  10. ^ "BetMGM Premier League heading to Belgium as 2026 schedule confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  11. ^ a b "Premier League Darts 2026 dates and schedule confirmed: Antwerp replaces Exeter". Sky Sports. 11 September 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  12. ^ Gorton, Josh (4 January 2024). "BetMGM stars as new title sponsor of Premier League Darts". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  13. ^ Bower, Aaron (29 May 2025). "Luke Humphries battles back to dethrone Luke Littler in Premier League final". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  14. ^ "Premier League Darts final: Luke Humphries beats Luke Littler to claim first title". ESPN. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  15. ^ "Premier League Darts: Line-up revealed on Sky Sports News as PDC confirm no format changes to 2026 edition as Luke Humphries, Luke Littler chase title". Sky Sports. 2 January 2026. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  16. ^ a b c "Premier League Darts: Nathan Aspinall snubbed as Stephen Bunting keeps spot and Josh Rock makes his debut". Sky Sports. 5 January 2026.
  17. ^ Phillips, Josh (31 March 2025). "Biggest prize money increase in PDC history confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 17 September 2025.
  18. ^ Simpson, Will (5 February 2026). "Where to watch the 2026 BetMGM Premier League". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  19. ^ Matthews, Callum (4 January 2026). "Four are in - but who might complete Premier League Darts line-up?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
  20. ^ "Premier League Darts 2026: Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton join Luke Littler, more as full line-up revealed". ESPN. 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  21. ^ Williams, Rhys (5 January 2026). "Gerwyn Price confirmed for 2026 Premier League Darts". Caerphilly Observer. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  22. ^ Shaw, Jamie (5 January 2026). "James Wade and Danny Noppert issue response to Premier League Darts omission". Live Darts. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  23. ^ Mardle, Wayne (5 January 2026). "Premier League Darts: Stephen Bunting fortunate, bitter pill to swallow for Danny Noppert says Wayne Mardle". Sky Sports. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  24. ^ Baker, Luke (5 January 2026). "Stephen Bunting 'fortunate' to get wildcard as Premier League Darts lineup revealed". The Independent. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  25. ^ Mitchelmore, Ian (5 February 2026). "Van Gerwen wins opening Premier League night". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  26. ^ Wellens, Megan (5 February 2026). "Premier League Darts 2026: Michael van Gerwen reigns supreme with Night One victory as Luke Littler loses in quarter-finals". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  27. ^ Mirza, Raz (12 February 2026). "Premier League Darts: Gerwyn Price defeats Michael van Gerwen in final after wins over Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton in Antwerp". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  28. ^ Gorton, Josh (19 February 2026). "Van Gerwen withdraws from BetMGM Premier League Night Three". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  29. ^ "Littler into semi-finals after Van Gerwen withdrawal". BBC Sport. 19 February 2026. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  30. ^ Matthews, Callum (19 February 2026). "Clayton wins Premier League night three in Glasgow". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  31. ^ "Premier League darts 2026: Schedule, fixtures, results, table as Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen all feature". Sky Sports. 5 February 2026. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  32. ^ "Premier League Darts 2026 fixtures, results and table". BBC Sport. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  33. ^ "Results of Premier League 2026". Mastercaller. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
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