Premier League Darts

Premier League Darts is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. The league is now played weekly from February to May, having originally started as a fortnightly fixture. The tournament originally featured seven players and now sees ten of the biggest names from the PDC circuit competing in a double round-robin format, with matches held across Europe at different venues. The top four players in the PDC Order of Merit are joined by six wildcard selections to make up the ten-man field. The current sponsor is Unibet.

Premier League
Tournament information
VenueVarious
LocationVarious
CountryUnited Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany
Established2005
Organisation(s)PDC
FormatLegs
Prize fund£855,000 (2019)
Month(s) PlayedFebruary – May
Current champion(s)
 Glen Durrant

The previous sponsors were McCoy's, Whyte and Mackay, who succeeded Holsten, having signed a three-year contract to support the event in October 2007,[1] and 888.com. The prize fund rose from £265,000 to £340,000 in 2008, steadily increasing each year for a prize fund of £855,000 in 2019. The winner currently receives £250,000.

Phil Taylor has dominated this 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. Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. Phil Taylor defeated James Wade the following season to claim his fifth title in the competition in 2010; however, he was defeated in the semi-final of the 2011 tournament. Gary Anderson became champion in his début season by defeating Adrian Lewis in a repeat of the world championship final earlier that year. Phil Taylor reclaimed the title the following year, after defeating Simon Whitlock in the 2012 final, but lost the 2013 final to Michael van Gerwen. A year later, Taylor – who lost four of his first five games of the season and only secured qualification to the playoffs on the final league night – lost to eventual champion Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals.

Although there have been six overall winners of the Premier League, the actual league stage has been dominated by Taylor and 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.

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 January 2007 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2010.[2]

Sponsorship

The tournament has had six title sponsors since it was formed in 2005. They are 888.com (2005, 2011), Holsten (2006–2007), Whyte and Mackay (2008–2010), McCoy's (2012–2013) and Betway (2014–2017). Unibet was the sixth when they took over for the 2018 tournament.

Finals
Year Final Tournament
Champion Score Runner-up Best of Venue Prize-pool Players Venues League winner
2005  Phil Taylor (101.01) 16–4  Colin Lloyd (97.20) 31 legs G-Mex, Manchester £150,000 7 11  Phil Taylor
2006  Phil Taylor (101.41) 16–6  Roland Scholten (92.01) Plymouth Pavilions £167,500
2007  Phil Taylor (99.20) 16–6  Terry Jenkins (90.81) The Brighton Centre £265,000 8 15
2008  Phil Taylor (108.36) 16–8  James Wade (100.14) Cardiff International Arena £340,000
2009  James Wade (90.38) 13–8  Mervyn King (85.83) 25 legs Wembley Arena £405,000
2010  Phil Taylor (111.67) 10–8  James Wade (100.08) 19 legs £410,000
2011  Gary Anderson (94.67) 10–4  Adrian Lewis (85.75)
2012  Phil Taylor (97.08) 10–7  Simon Whitlock (95.32) The O2 Arena, London £450,000
2013  Michael van Gerwen (103.29) 10–8  Phil Taylor (104.10) £520,000 10  Michael van Gerwen
2014  Raymond van Barneveld (101.93) 10–6  Michael van Gerwen (102.98) £550,000 16
2015  Gary Anderson (104.85) 11–7  Michael van Gerwen (105.81) 21 legs £700,000
2016  Michael van Gerwen (104.68) 11–3  Phil Taylor (98.84) £725,000
2017  Michael van Gerwen (104.76) 11–10  Peter Wright (101.06) £825,000
2018  Michael van Gerwen (112.37) 11–4  Michael Smith (97.01) 15[lower-alpha 1]
2019  Michael van Gerwen (103.36) 11–5  Rob Cross (100.98) 9[lower-alpha 2] 16
2020  Glen Durrant (91.84) 11–8  Nathan Aspinall (92.15) Ricoh Arena, Coventry [lower-alpha 3] 8[lower-alpha 4]  Glen Durrant
2021 Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin 10 17
  1. A scheduled night at Westpoint Arena was cancelled due to Storm Emma. An extra round was held at Rotterdam Ahoy to compensate.
  2. 9 players played regularly, with 9 others serving as 'contenders' for each of the first 9 nights.
  3. Final planned in the O2 Arena in London, but moved to Coventry due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. Eleven scheduled nights at ten venues were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rounds were held at Marshall Arena behind closed doors to compensate.

Records and statistics
As of 15 October 2020.

Total finalist appearances
Rank Player Won Runner-up Finals Appearances
1  Phil Taylor 62813
2  Michael van Gerwen 5278
3  Gary Anderson 2029
4  James Wade 12310
5  Glen Durrant 1011
 Raymond van Barneveld 10114
7  Nathan Aspinall 0111
 Rob Cross 0113
 Terry Jenkins 0115
 Mervyn King 0112
 Adrian Lewis 01110
 Colin Lloyd 0113
 Roland Scholten 0113
 Michael Smith 0114
 Simon Whitlock 0116
 Peter Wright 0117
  • Active players are shown in bold
  • Only players who reached the final are included
  • In the event of identical records, players are sorted in alphabetical order by family name

Champions by country
Country Players Total First title Last title
 England 3 8 2005 2020
 Netherlands 2 6 2013 2019
 Scotland 1 2 2011 2015

Nine-dart finishes

Ten nine-dart finishes have been thrown in the Premier League. The first one was in 2006, and the most recent one was in 2020.

Player Year (+ Week) Location Method Opponent Result
 Raymond van Barneveld 2006, Week 5 Bournemouth 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12  Peter Manley 8–3
 Raymond van Barneveld 2010, Week 12 Aberdeen 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12  Terry Jenkins 8–6
 Phil Taylor 2010, Final London T20, 2 x T19; 3 x T20; T20, T17, D18  James Wade 10–8
3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12
 Phil Taylor 2012, Week 2 Aberdeen 3 x T20; T20, 2 x T19; T20, T17, D18  Kevin Painter 8–5
 Simon Whitlock 2012, Semi-Final London 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T15, D18  Andy Hamilton 8–6
 Adrian Lewis 2016, Week 11 Belfast 3 x T20; 2 x T20, T19; 2 x T20, D12  James Wade 7–5
 Adrian Lewis 2017, Week 11 Liverpool 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12  Raymond van Barneveld 7–4
 Michael Smith 2020, Week 4 Dublin 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12  Daryl Gurney 7–5
 Peter Wright 2020, Night 11 Milton Keynes 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12  Daryl Gurney 6–8

Tournament records
  • Most titles: 6 – Phil Taylor
  • 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: 11 – Gary Anderson v Simon Whitlock (2011).[3][4]
  • Most 100+ averages in a season: 18 – Michael van Gerwen (2017). Van Gerwen became the first player to average over 100 in every match of a season.
  • Highest match average: 123.40 – Michael van Gerwen (2016)
  • Highest group stage overall average: 107.95 – Phil Taylor (2012)
  • Highest average in the final: 112.37 – Michael van Gerwen (2018)

Whitewashes
Year Player Legs Player
2007Terry Jenkins
87.32		0–8 Colin Lloyd
96.97
2008Phil Taylor
96.97		8–0 Wayne Mardle
88.43
2012James Wade
96.97		8–0 Simon Whitlock
80.79
2014Phil Taylor
99.45		0–7 Michael van Gerwen
109.59
2015James Wade
93.93		0–7 Michael van Gerwen
116.90
2016Robert Thornton
75.68		0–7 Dave Chisnall
101.16
2016Robert Thornton
88.38		0–7 Phil Taylor
102.15
2017Adrian Lewis
94.53		0–7 Michael van Gerwen
110.75
2018Raymond van Barneveld
96.58		0–7 Michael Smith
103.15
2019Daryl Gurney
94.45		0–7 James Wade
109.59
2020Jermaine Wattimena
81.24		0–7 Gerwyn Price
102.15

High averages
Ten highest Premier League one-match averages
Average Player Year (+ Round) Opponent Result
123.40  Michael van Gerwen 2016, Week 4  Michael Smith 7–1
119.50  Peter Wright 2017, Week 5  Adrian Lewis 7–2
117.95  Michael van Gerwen 2016, Week 10  Robert Thornton 7–5
117.35  Phil Taylor 2012, Week 4  Simon Whitlock 8–4
116.90  Michael van Gerwen 2015, Week 12  James Wade 7–0
116.67  Michael van Gerwen 2016, Week 5  Peter Wright 7–2
116.10  Phil Taylor 2012, Week 13  James Wade 8–1
116.01  Phil Taylor 2009, Week 12  John Part 8–3
115.80  Phil Taylor 2015, Week 7  Raymond van Barneveld 4–7
115.25  Phil Taylor 2016, Week 4  Dave Chisnall 7–5
Five highest tournament averages
Average Player Year
107.48  Michael van Gerwen 2016
106.73  Phil Taylor 2012
105.26  Michael van Gerwen 2015
104.68  Michael van Gerwen 2017
104.11  Michael van Gerwen 2018

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 has competed in every Premier League since joining the PDC in 2006. 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 2021 Dimitri Van den Bergh, José de Sousa and Jonny Clayton will be the latest players to make their Premier League debuts.

Premier League players and performance
Player # 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
 Phil Taylor 13 W W W W SF W SF W RU SF 5 RU SF DNP
 Colin Lloyd 3 RU SF 5 Did not play
 Peter Manley 4 SF 6 6 6 Did not play
 Roland Scholten 3 SF RU 8 Did not play
 Mark Dudbridge 1 5 Did not play
 John Part 3 6 DNP 8 6 Did not play
 Wayne Mardle 4 7 7 DNP 5 WD Did not play
 Raymond van Barneveld 14 DNP SF SF SF SF 6 SF 5 SF W SF 7 6 6 9 DNP
 Ronnie Baxter 2 DNP 5 Did not play 5 Did not play
 Terry Jenkins 5 DNP RU 7 5 8 7 Did not play
 Dennis Priestley 1 DNP SF DNP C Did not play
 Adrian Lewis 10 DNP 7 SF C 7 RU 6 8 6 6 SF 8 Did not play
 James Wade 10 Did not play RU W RU 5 SF SF DNP 7 6 7 DNP SF DNP
 Mervyn King 2 Did not play RU SF Did not play
 Jelle Klaasen 2 Did not play 7 Did not play 9 Did not play
 Simon Whitlock 6 Did not play SF 6 RU 6 10 Did not play 8 DNP
 Gary Anderson 9 Did not play C DNP W 8 10 SF W SF SF SF DNP SF —
 Mark Webster 1 Did not play C DNP 8 Did not play
 Andy Hamilton 2 Did not play SF 7 Did not play
 Kevin Painter 1 Did not play 7 Did not play
 Michael van Gerwen 9 Did not play W RU RU W W W W 6 —
 Robert Thornton 3 Did not play C Did not play 5 8 DNP 8 Did not play
 Wes Newton 2 Did not play 9 9 Did not play
 Peter Wright 8 Did not play 5 9 5 RU 7 8 SF —
 Dave Chisnall 4 Did not play 7 SF 9 5 Did not play
 Stephen Bunting 1 Did not play 8 Did not play C DNP
 Kim Huybrechts 2 Did not play 10 DNP 10 Did not play
 Michael Smith 4 Did not play 10 DNP RU 7 7 DNP
 Rob Cross 4 Did not play SF RU 9 —
 Daryl Gurney 3 Did not play 5 SF 8 DNP
 Mensur Suljović 2 Did not play 9 6 DNP
 Gerwyn Price 4 Did not play 10 5 5 —
 Nathan Aspinall 2 Did not play C RU —
 Glen Durrant 2 Did not play C W —
 Dimitri Van den Bergh 1 Did not play C DNP —
 Jonny Clayton 1 Did not play C —
 José de Sousa 1 Did not play —
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 during tournament C Challenger DNP Did not play at that year

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.[5][6] This format was extended – this time as part of the original schedule – to the 2020 season, with 9 regular players and 9 challengers. John Henderson, Fallon Sherrock, Jonny Clayton, William O'Connor, Luke Humphries, Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey, Jeffrey de Zwaan and Jermaine Wattimena were the challengers.

References
  1. Whyte & Mackay to sponsor Premier League Archived 3 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine planetdarts.tv
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 February 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "888.com Premier League Darts – Night 11". PDC. 22 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  4. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/sports-latest/2011/04/22/premier-league-super-scot-gary-anderson-breaks-180-record-during-demolition-of-simon-whitlock-86908-23078799/
  5. "2019 Unibet Premier League Field Announced". Sky Sports. B Sky B. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. Phillips, Josh. "Premier League 'Contenders' To Replace Injured Anderson". PDC. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
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