The 2026 Premier League Darts season is set to begin next month, with organisers eager for a smooth campaign following several high-profile late withdrawals in previous years.
Fresh from claiming a second consecutive PDC World Darts Championship title with a dominant 7–1 victory over Gian van Veen, Luke Littler will now turn his focus to the Premier League alongside seven other elite players.
The 16-week tournament will feature the top four players on the PDC Order of Merit — reigning Premier League champion Luke Humphries, Littler, Van Veen and Michael van Gerwen — who all qualified automatically. They are joined by four PDC-selected wildcards: Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock.
Each league night will follow the familiar mini-tournament format, with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final contested over 11 legs. The top four players in the league table after Night 16 will progress to Finals Night at London’s O2 Arena on May 28.
Matches will be played every Thursday from February 5 to May 28, with venues spread across Europe. The campaign opens in Newcastle and also includes stops in Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany.
The total prize fund stands at £1.25 million, with the eventual champion earning £350,000, while the runner-up will collect £170,000.
Despite the excitement surrounding the line-up, the Premier League has previously been disrupted by withdrawals. In 2021, then world champion Gerwyn Price was forced to pull out after testing positive for Covid-19 on the eve of the tournament, with James Wade drafted in as a late replacement. At the time, Price admitted he was “upset” and felt “stripped” of the chance to build on his world title success.
The Welshman has yet to win the Premier League, although he did reach the 2023 final before losing to Van Gerwen.
Former world champion Gary Anderson has also withdrawn from the competition on multiple occasions due to health concerns. In 2016, he missed the opening night after being diagnosed with symptoms of a viral upper respiratory tract infection, while a back injury forced him out again in 2019.
Anderson will not feature in the 2026 edition despite reaching the semi-finals of the most recent World Championship. During his run at Alexandra Palace, the two-time Premier League winner confirmed that the demanding travel schedule played a major role in his decision.
“No, no — I’m quite happy,” Anderson said. “I need to concentrate on my rankings. If I did the Premier League, the Europeans are gone, the Players Championship is gone. I can’t do it.
“It’s been great the years I’ve done it, but it’s just not for me anymore.”
