Premier League Darts line-up introduced as Luke Littler’s rivals confirmed
The Premier League Darts 2026 line-up has been announced.
Reigning back-to-back world champion Luke Littler’s place was confirmed in the eight-player tournament due to his ranking as world No.1. The defending Premier League champion and world No.2 Luke Humphries was also guaranteed a place due to his place in the PDC Order of Merit top four.
‘Cool Hand’ beat Littler in last year’s final to avenge his defeat in The O2 final against ‘The Nuke’ in the previous May. Their spot in the eight-player line-up was nailed alongside world No.3 and beaten world finalist Gian van Veen and seven-time Premier League champion Michael van Gerwen as world No.4.
(Image: PA)
The remaining four wildcard slots were confirmed on Sky Sports News on Monday, with Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price also selected.
That means that Nathan Aspinall, Gary Anderson, Ryan Searle, Danny Noppert and James Wade have all missed out after being in contention for a place.
The eight players will compete every Thursday for 16 weeks starting on February 5 in Newcastle. A prize of £10,000 for the winner of the weekly tournament will be awarded as well as points for reaching the semi-final, final and as the champion.
Those points will compile a league table, with the top four making it through to Finals Night at The O2 on May 28.
The Premier League winner will land the £350,000 prize money, although it won’t be added to their Order of Merit total due to the tournament being a non-ranking event.
Runner-up will receive £170,000, with the two beaten semi-finalists earning £110,000. Fifth place in the table will pocket £95,000 with £5,000 less to the following three players in every position respectively, seeing 8th place earn £80,000 from the prize pool of £1,250,000.
2026 Premier League schedule in full:
Night 1 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday February 5
Night 2 – AFAS Dome, Antwerp – Thursday February 12
Night 3 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday February 19
Night 4 – SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday February 26
Night 5 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff – Thursday March 5
Night 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday March 12
Night 7 – 3Arena, Dublin – Thursday March 19
Night 8 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday March 26
Night 9 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday April 2
Night 10 – Brighton Centre, Brighton – Thursday April 9
Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday April 16
Night 12 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool – Thursday April 23
Night 13 – P&J Live, Aberdeen – Thursday April 30
Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday May 7
Night 15 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham – Thursday May 14
Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday May 21
Finals Night – The O2, London – Thursday May 28
