Premier League Darts: Tournament to undergo the most radical change in its history | Darts News
The Premier League will feature eight players in 2022, with the 16 league nights being individual events comprising the quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final over the best of 11 legs – with a £10,000 bonus to each night’s winner; watch the darting drama unfold live on Sky Sports!
Last Updated: 14/01/22 7:03pm
Welshman Jonny Clayton is the reigning Premier League champion (photo courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
This year’s Premier League will undergo the most radical change in the tournament’s history, with eight players to contest 16 mini-events during the season ahead of the Play-Offs to determine a champion.
This year’s darting extravaganza will still be played in 17 arenas across the UK, Ireland, Netherlands and Germany and offer a bumper, increased £1m prize fund, but there’s a significant twist.
In a new development, the Premier League will feature eight players in 2022, with the 16 league nights being individual events comprising the quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final over the best of 11 legs – with a £10,000 bonus to each night’s winner.
Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six)
Each player will meet the other seven players twice over the course of the season in a quarter-final game, plus two further nights will feature additional fixtures in the same format
Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen will all hope to be included amongst the eight players competing for this year’s title
Ranking points will also be awarded from each night – with five to the winner, three to the runner-up and two to the semi-finalists – to form the league table from which the top four players will progress to the Play-Offs.
Across the 16 weeks, players will face each other twice in a quarter-final tie to form the draw for 14 nights, with the additional two nights seeing the stars face off again.
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Jonny Clayton beat Jose de Sousa 11-5 to win the Premier League in his debut season
“The Premier League has grown beyond recognition since first being introduced 17 years ago, but the time was right to introduce this ground-breaking new format,” said PDC chief executive Matt Porter.
“Our new format means that every match matters. Every night throughout the season has its own champion and will provide even greater value for fans attending and watching around the world, with seven games playing through to a conclusion to find a winner in each venue.
“There is also the wider race to be involved in the Play-Offs and to challenge for the overall Premier League title and a share of the massive £1m prize money.
“We’ve already seen great interest across the UK and Europe from fans looking forward to attending the Premier League live once again, and this year they’ll be experiencing more top-class darts than ever before in this event.”
Night Winner – 5 points + £10,000 bonus
Runner-Up – 3 points
Semi-Finalists – 2 points
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An emotional Clayton was over the moon after winning his maiden Premier League title
The Premier League has had a number of format changes through the previous 17 seasons since the tournament was introduced in 2005, initially beginning with seven players before moving to eight and 10 competitors, and also featuring Challengers in recent years.
2022 Premier League Schedule
Night 1 – Thursday February 3 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
Night 2 – Thursday February 10 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
Night 3 – Thursday February 17 – SSE Arena, Belfast
Night 4 – Thursday February 24 – Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin
Night 5 – Thursday March 3 – Westpoint Exeter
Night 6 – Thursday March 10 – The Brighton Centre
Night 7 – Thursday March 17 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Night 8 – Thursday March 24 – Rotterdam Ahoy
Night 9 – Thursday March 31 – Utilita Arena Birmingham
Night 10 – Thursday April 7 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
Night 11 – Thursday April 14 – AO Arena, Manchester
Night 12 – Thursday April 21 – P&J Live, Aberdeen
Night 13 – Thursday April 28 – 3Arena, Dublin
Night 14 – Thursday May 5 – OVO Arena, Glasgow
Night 15 – Thursday May 12 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield
Night 16 – Thursday May 19 – The O2, London
Play-Offs – Thursday May 26 – Utilita Arena Newcastle
Join us for the start of the 2022 Premier League Darts in Cardiff on Thursday, February 3 live on Sky Sports. Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts
