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2025 Premier League Darts

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2025 BetMGM Premier League Darts
Winner
 Luke Humphries
Runner-up
 Luke Littler
Score
11–8
Dates
6 February – 29 May 2025
Edition
21st
Number of players
8
Venues
17
Nine-dart finish
 Luke Humphries
 Rob Cross
 Luke Littler
 Gerwyn Price (x2)
Premier League Darts
< 2024 | 2025 | 2026 >

The 2025 Premier League Darts, also known as the 2025 BetMGM Premier League Darts for sponsorship reasons, was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the twenty-first edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 6 February 2025, at the SSE Arena in Belfast, and ended with the play-offs, at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 29 May 2025.[1]

Luke Littler was the defending champion after defeating Luke Humphries 11–7 in the 2024 final,[2][3] but was defeated by Humphries 11–8 in the final, who won his first Premier League title and completed the Triple Crown.

There were five nine-dart finishes hit over the course of the tournament. Night five produced the first two; Humphries hit the first in his 6–4 loss to Rob Cross, then Cross hit his own perfect leg in his semi-final against Nathan Aspinall, a match he lost 6–5.[4] Littler hit the third nine-dart finish of the tournament in his night seven final win against Michael van Gerwen.[5] Gerwyn Price hit the fourth on night 10 in his 6–3 quarter-final loss against Littler. On night 15, Price hit his second nine-dart finish and the fifth of the tournament in his 6–4 quarter-final loss to Stephen Bunting.[6]

Luke Littler achieved a record six nightly wins during the league stage and also broke his own seasonal points record, finishing on 45 points.[7]

Format

[edit]

The 2025 Premier League Darts used the same format that was introduced for the 2022 edition.[8] It remained an eight-person knockout bracket every night, with each of the seven matches played as the first to six legs. The players were guaranteed to meet each other once in the quarter-finals throughout the first seven weeks, and once in the quarter-finals in weeks 9–15, with weeks 8 and 16 being drawn based on the league standings at that point. Players received two points per semi-final finish, three points per runner-up finish, and five points per final win.

Following the league phase, the top four players in the table contested the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd.[9]

Venues

[edit]
class=notpageimage|
Locations of the 2025 Premier League venues in the UK and Ireland.
class=notpageimage|
Other locations of the 2025 Premier League venues in Europe.
Northern Ireland Belfast Scotland Glasgow Republic of Ireland Dublin England Exeter
SSE Arena Belfast

Thursday 6 February

OVO Hydro

Thursday 13 February

3Arena

Thursday 20 February

Westpoint Arena

Thursday 27 February

England Brighton England Nottingham Wales Cardiff England Newcastle
Brighton Centre

Thursday 6 March

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham

Thursday 13 March

Utilita Arena Cardiff

Thursday 20 March

Utilita Arena Newcastle

Thursday 27 March

Germany Berlin England Manchester Netherlands Rotterdam England Liverpool
Uber Arena

Thursday 3 April

AO Arena

Thursday 10 April

Rotterdam Ahoy

Thursday 17 April

M&S Bank Arena

Thursday 24 April

England Birmingham England Leeds Scotland Aberdeen England Sheffield
Utilita Arena Birmingham

Thursday 1 May

First Direct Arena

Thursday 8 May

P&J Live

Thursday 15 May

Utilita Arena Sheffield

Thursday 22 May

England London
The O2

Thursday 29 May

Prize money

[edit]
Stephen Bunting received a weekly bonus for winning night nine.

The prize money for the 2025 edition of the tournament remained at £1 million, including a £10,000 bonus to each night's winner.[10][11]

Stage Prize Money
Winner £275,000
Runner-up £125,000
Semi-finalists (x2) £85,000
5th place £75,000
6th place £70,000
7th place £65,000
8th place £60,000
Weekly Winner Bonus (x16) £10,000
Total £1,000,000

Players

[edit]
Luke Littler was the defending champion going into the tournament.

The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit—Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross—automatically qualified. The remaining four players were announced on 6 January 2025 live on Sky Sports News.[12][13] The announcement saw two changes made from the 2024 lineup, with Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey replacing Peter Wright and Michael Smith.[14][15] Former participants and Scottish World Cup duo Wright and Gary Anderson were not selected, marking the first Premier League line-up to not feature a player representing Scotland since 2010.[16] Reigning World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker became the first victor of a premier event televised on Sky Sports to miss out on selection the following year.[17]

Player Appearance in
Premier League 		Consecutive
Streak 		Order of Merit
Rank 		Previous best performance
 Luke Humphries 2nd[a] 2 1 Runner-up: (2024)
 Luke Littler 2nd 2 2 Winner: (2024)
 Michael van Gerwen 13th 13 3 Winner: (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
 Rob Cross 6th 2 4 Runner-up: (2019)
 Stephen Bunting 2nd[b] 1 5 8th: (2015)
 Gerwyn Price 7th 4 9 Runner-up: (2023)
 Chris Dobey 2nd[c] 1 10 7th: (2023)
 Nathan Aspinall 5th[d] 3 11 Runner up: (2020)

[18]

  1. ^ Humphries had previously appeared as a one-off challenger in both 2019 and 2020.
  2. ^ Bunting had additionally appeared as a one-off challenger in 2020.
  3. ^ Dobey had additionally appeared as a one-off challenger in 2019 and 2020.
  4. ^ Aspinall had additionally appeared as a one-off challenger in 2019.

League stage

[edit]

The fixtures were released on 22 January 2025.[19][20] Match winners are shown in bold and all players are accompanied by their three-dart average for the match.[21]

29 May – Play-offs

[edit]
Luke Humphries won his first Premier League title.

The top four players of the league stage contested the play-offs to decide the champion of the Premier League.

Luke Humphries won the Premier League for the first time, defeating Luke Littler 11–8 in the final. This made Humphries the fourth player to complete the PDC Triple Crown after Gary Anderson, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.[37]

England The O2, London

Score
Semi-finals (best of 19 legs)
 Luke Littler 104.64 10–7  Gerwyn Price 95.37
 Luke Humphries 105.81 10–7  Nathan Aspinall 101.76
Final (best of 21 legs)
 Luke Littler 100.29 8–11  Luke Humphries 97.86
Night's Total Average: 100.83
Highest Checkout:  Gerwyn Price 132
Most 180s:  Luke Littler 16
Night's 180s: 38

Final standings

[edit]

Five points are awarded for a night win, three points for the runner-up and two points for the losing semi-finalists. When players are tied on points, nights won is used first as a tie-breaker and after that overall matches won.

The top four players after 16 nights advanced to the play-offs.

Pos Name Nights Matches Legs Scoring
Pts W RU SF QF Pld W L LF LA LD LWAT 100+ 140+ 180 A HC CR C%
1  Luke Littler (RU) 45 6 3 3 4 37 27 10 204 147 57 76 221 180 169 102.43 170 204/454 44.94%
2  Luke Humphries (C) 34 3 5 2 6 34 21 13 171 153 18 67 245 170 101 99.67 167 171/416 41.11%
3  Nathan Aspinall 26 2 2 5 7 29 15 14 136 128 8 55 213 112 93 95.70 170 136/354 38.41%
4  Gerwyn Price 24 3 1 3 9 27 14 13 126 120 7 48 189 78 71 96.60 170 126/331 38.06%
5  Michael van Gerwen 20 0 2 7 6 26 11 15 117 134 –17 47 166 95 70 96.07 130 117/307 38.11%
6  Chris Dobey 17 1 2 3 10 25 10 15 104 121 –17 41 164 89 87 97.19 170 108/259 41.70%
7  Rob Cross 14 0 0 7 9 23 7 16 99 119 –20 34 138 86 55 98.18 170 99/234 42.30%
8  Stephen Bunting 12 1 1 2 12 22 7 15 77 118 –41 26 150 102 62 97.48 170 77/223 34.52%

(C) Champion
(RU) Runner-up
(E) Eliminated
(Q) Qualified

As of 22 May 2025
(Week 16 of 16)

Streaks

[edit]
Player Nights
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Play-offs
 Luke Littler QF W QF RU W RU W QF SF QF W RU SF W RU
 Luke Humphries W RU SF W QF RU SF RU QF RU QF W QF RU W
 Nathan Aspinall QF RU SF RU QF SF QF W SF QF SF QF W SF SF
 Gerwyn Price QF SF W QF W QF RU QF W SF QF SF
 Michael van Gerwen SF QF SF RU QF WD SF QF SF RU QF DNQ
 Chris Dobey RU QF SF QF SF QF W QF RU SF
 Rob Cross SF QF SF QF SF QF
 Stephen Bunting QF W QF RU QF SF QF
Legend: DNQ Did not qualify WD withdrew QF Lost in Quarterfinals SF Semi-finalist RU Runner-up W Night winner

Positions by week

[edit]
Player Nights
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
 Luke Littler 5 2 4 2 1
 Luke Humphries 1 2
 Nathan Aspinall 8 7 5 3 6 4 3 4 5 4 3
 Gerwyn Price 6 2 3 5 3 4 3 4 3 4
 Michael van Gerwen 3 4 3 4 5 4 5
 Chris Dobey 2 4 6 7 6 7 6
 Rob Cross 4 5 7 6 5 6 7 6 7
 Stephen Bunting 7 8

Incidents

[edit]
Nathan Aspinall supposedly had a pint thrown at him by a crowd member before the night five final, according to Luke Littler.

Night two of the 2025 Premier League in Glasgow was marred by disruptive crowd behaviour, particularly whistling sounds aimed at Gerwyn Price during his semi-final match with Luke Humphries, as well as at Humphries himself along with opponent Luke Littler during the final. The disruption led to referee Kirk Bevins asking the crowd to stop whistling during his officiating of the latter contest.[38] Price responded to the hecklers by whistling back at them as Humphries jokingly covered his ears.[39] Sky Sports presenter Abigail Davies showed her displeasure with the crowd in a social media post, claiming "There is no way you can be a fan of the sport if you do that."[40] Nightly winner Littler also gave his thoughts, stating that the intervention by Bevins only made the situation worse. He added: "Obviously, they've got to step in at some point and say something. But yeah, that was pretty bad, but I got the win."[38] The PDC issued a statement on the crowd's behaviour the following day, condemning any excessive whistling or booing while players throw and reiterating that they would remove any spectators acting inappropriately.[41][42]

On night five, Littler addressed media after his second nightly win and spoke about a member of the crowd throwing a pint at Nathan Aspinall moments before the final. He provided further comments surrounding crowd behaviour, stating: "I think we all know some have been good, some have been a bit bad. But that is the darts fans for you, they are either good or they are either bad."[43]

Broadcasting rights

[edit]

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the tournament is broadcast live on Sky Sports.[44][45] Viaplay and DAZN also air the tournament. In the United States, Peacock streamed the play-offs.[46] The PDC's streaming service, PDCTV, is broadcasting the tournament for Rest of the World subscribers.[47]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "BetMGM Premier League". PDC. 28 November 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  2. ^ Colman, Jonty (23 May 2024). "Littler beats Humphries to win Premier League Darts title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  3. ^ Liew, Jonathan (24 May 2024). "Luke Littler powers to Premier League Darts title with nine-dart delight". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  4. ^ Keogh, Frank (6 March 2025). "Littler triumphs as Brighton sees two nine-darters". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Luke Littler sinks Van Gerwen with nine-darter to stay top of Premier League". The Guardian. PA Media. 21 March 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  6. ^ Mirza, Raz (16 May 2025). "Premier League Darts: Nathan Aspinall wins in Aberdeen after Luke Littler and Luke Humphries play out classic and Gerwyn Price hits nine-darter". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Premier League Darts: Luke Littler wins night 16 to smash points record". ESPN. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Premier League Darts: Tournament to undergo the most radical change in its history". Sky Sports. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Fixtures, results, table, averages, statistics, venues & Sky TV schedule". Sporting Life. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  10. ^ "Premier League 2025". Mastercaller. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  11. ^ Middleton, Emma (4 February 2025). "How does Premier League Darts work? | 2025 Premier League Darts fixtures, prize money, players". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Luke Littler to defend title as Stephen Bunting among wildcard picks in eight-player field". Sky Sports. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  13. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Is Luke Littler playing? Who else might get picked? When does tournament start?". Sky Sports. 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  14. ^ Rathborn, Jack (6 January 2025). "Premier League Darts 2025 line-up revealed including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and more". The Independent. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
  15. ^ McFarlane, Cam (6 January 2025). "2025 Premier League Darts Lineup Announced". Online Darts. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  16. ^ Wood, Kieran (7 January 2025). "No Scottish player in Premier League Darts lineup for first time since 2010!". Darts News. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  17. ^ Gill, Samuel (7 January 2025). "Mike de Decker becomes first Sky major winner ever to miss out on Premier League Darts selection". Darts News. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
  18. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and more player profiles". Sky Sports. 7 January 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  19. ^ Gorton, Josh (22 January 2025). "2025 Premier League Fixtures Confirmed". PDC. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
  20. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Fixtures, results, table, averages, statistics, venues & Sky TV schedule". Sporting Life. 6 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  21. ^ "Results of Premier League 2025". Mastercaller. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  22. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Michael van Gerwen gets revenge over Luke Littler in classic". ESPN. 6 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  23. ^ Drury, Sam; Keogh, Frank (6 February 2025). "Premier League: Humphries beats Dobey 6-1 in Belfast final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  24. ^ Keogh, Frank (13 February 2025). "Littler wins Premier League night two in Glasgow". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  25. ^ "Gerwyn Price beats Nathan Aspinall for Premier League Darts win in Dublin". RTÉ. Press Association. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
  26. ^ "Luke Humphries sees off Luke Littler to secure Premier League win in Exeter". The Guardian. PA Media. 28 February 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  27. ^ "Premier League Darts 2025: Luke Littler overcomes Nathan Aspinall to win Brighton final". ESPN. 6 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  28. ^ Matthews, Callum (14 March 2025). "Price beats Littler to win Premier League night six". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  29. ^ "Littler wins night eight in Newcastle to extend Premier League lead". The Guardian. PA Media. 28 March 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  30. ^ "Bunting ends Premier League darts drought in Berlin after Littler crashes out". The Guardian. PA Media. 4 April 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  31. ^ Drury, Sam (10 April 2025). "Aspinall wins Premier League night in Manchester". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  32. ^ "Dobey earns first Premier League darts win of 2025". ESPN. 17 April 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  33. ^ "Darts results: Gerwyn Price wins the Premier League night in Liverpool". Sporting Life. 25 April 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  34. ^ Matthews, Callum (1 May 2025). "Littler wins record fifth Premier League night". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  35. ^ Veal, Jonathan (8 May 2025). "Luke Humphries delights home crowd with Premier League win in Leeds". The Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  36. ^ Keogh, Frank (15 May 2025). "Aspinall wins in Aberdeen as Littler seals top spot". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  37. ^ Christou, Frankie (29 May 2025). "Luke Humphries downs Luke Littler to become Premier League champion". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  38. ^ a b "Premier League Darts: Luke Littler criticises crowd whistling after beating Luke Humphries in Glasgow final". Sky Sports. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  39. ^ Davies, Ben (13 February 2025). "'Box office' – Gerwyn Price whistles back at fan and mouths X-rated response after being heckled during match". talkSPORT. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  40. ^ Chan, Marcus (14 February 2025). "Sky Sports presenter slams Premier League Darts crowd for what they did during Luke Littler vs Luke Humphries final". SPORTbible. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  41. ^ Allen, Dave (14 February 2025). "PDC Statement: Crowd behaviour". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  42. ^ Wilson, Chris (14 February 2025). "'Whistling and booing' at Premier League Darts condemned after Luke Littler complaints". The Independent. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
  43. ^ "Luke Littler says Nathan Aspinall had pint 'thrown at him' before Premier League Darts final in Brighton". Sky Sports. 7 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  44. ^ Rathborn, Jack (6 February 2025). "What time does Luke Littler play in Premier League Darts tonight in Belfast?". The Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  45. ^ Potts, Michael (6 February 2025). "Premier League Darts on TV 2025: Channel, schedule and live stream". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  46. ^ Walsh, Alex (29 May 2025). "PDC Premier League Darts play-offs and other events to be streamed on Peacock". Sporting News. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
  47. ^ Gorton, Josh (6 February 2025). "Where to watch the 2025 BetMGM Premier League". PDC. Retrieved 7 February 2025.
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