Premier League Darts Line-Up Announced As Shock Name Included

The 2026 Premier League Darts line-up has been announced ahead of the opening night in Newcastle on February 5.

Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen are the four highest-ranked players in the PDC Order of Merit, meaning they automatically qualified for this year's Premier League.

The remaining four spots were invitations from the PDC, and a handful of wildcards had been in contention to feature.

Jonny Clayton, who sits fifth in the Order of Merit standings on £625,000, was one of the favourites to make the cut alongside Gerywn Price, who enjoyed a productive start to 2025 before taling off towards the end of the year.

Nathan Aspinall, Rob Cross, Josh Rock, James Wade, Danny Noppert, Stephen Bunting and Ryan Searle were all in contention ahead of Monday's announcement.

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On Monday, the line-up announcement was broadcast on Sky Sports, with Littler, Humphries, Van Veen and Van Gerwen featuring alongside Jonny Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Josh Rock and Gerwyn Price.

Bunting's inclusion was arguably the biggest shock. The popular Liverpudlian, affectionately known as the "People's Champion", is currently ranked seventh in the PDC Order of Merit.

He reached the quarter-finals of the Masters and Matchplay last year but his overall performance in the 2025 Premier League left much to be desired as he failed to record a single point in the opening eight weeks.

After suffering a third-round exit at the latest World Championship, Bunting had been tipped to miss out on the upcoming Premier League line-up by several pundits, including former BDO World Championship semi-finalist Chris Mason.

"I'm slightly surprised" 😳

Wayne Mardle discusses the inclusion of Stephen Bunting in the 2026 Premier League Darts 🎯 pic.twitter.com/F9LYAzArKv

— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) January 5, 2026

For those looking to attend, the Premier League season will kick off at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle on February 5, with the final taking place at The O2 Arena in London on May 28.

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

Ahead of the news, PDC chief executive Matt Porter squashed suggestions of a potential format change.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “We always say that we do evaluate it and we will change it at some point, but we just feel at the moment the data shows us that this is the right format."

“The crowds in the arenas love it, they love seeing a winner on the night, it keeps them entertained until the last dart, and the TV audience figures are great," he added. "So, we will make a decision as and when we feel that the format is tired.”