Premier League Darts
| Premier League | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Venue | Various |
| Location | Various |
| Country | United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands |
| Established | 2005 |
| Organisation(s) | PDC |
| Format | Legs |
| Prize fund | £825,000 (2017) |
| Month(s) Played | February – May |
| Current champion(s) | |
 Michael van Gerwen
|
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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 the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands 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 Betway.
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, and 888.com. The prize fund rose from £265,000 to £340,000 in 2008, steadily increasing each year for a prize fund of £825,000 in 2017. The winner currently receives £250,000.
Phil Taylor has dominated this event, winning six of the twelve competitions to date. 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.
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