The 2026 Premier League Darts line-up will be announced live on Sky Sports News from 3.45pm on Monday, with no changes to this season’s competition format.
The Premier League, which is streamed live on Sky Sports, has been played in various formats since its inception in 2005, with the latest changes for 2022 being an eight-a-side competition with each weekly event crowning a winner each night.
After the World Darts Championship, the top four players in the PDC Order of Merit will be joined by four wildcard picks to complete the line-up for the 16-week regular season in the UK and Europe, with the top four in the standings progressing to the final night at the O2 London.
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2025 Premier League Darts Final, Luke Littler vs. Humphries Highlights
The PDC announced the 2026 Premier League schedule in September, which included the opening game in Newcastle on February 5, followed by the inaugural game in Belgium the following week, but did not confirm the proposed format at the time.
Speculation had been mounting as to whether the PDC would opt for a change given the expanded field for this year’s World Darts Championship and the large number of potential challengers to fill the wildcard spots, but Porter confirmed the current format would continue next season.
“We’re constantly evaluating it and we’ll say at some point we’ll change it, but at the moment we just feel the data shows this is the right format,” PDC chief executive Matt Porter told Sky Sports exclusively.
“The crowd in the arena loves it, they love seeing the winner of the night, they’re entertained right down to the last dart, and the TV viewership is great.
“So we’re going to make a decision when we feel this format is tired.”
Luke Littler and Luke Humphries occupy the top two spots on the Order of Merit and are guaranteed to return to the Premier League in 2026, as do New World Darts Championship semi-finalist Jan van Veen and seven-time winner Michael van Gerwen.
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Watch Humphries’ winning dart in the 2025 Premier League Darts Final against Littler.
Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price reached Finals Night last year but were quickly eliminated from the World Darts Championship, while Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobie, Rob Cross and Van Gerwen were also in last year’s Premier League line-up and failed to make the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace.
Danny Knoppert and James Wade are both in the top 10 for the Order of Merit, but Porter insists no decision has yet been made as to who will be in the 2026 Premier League line-up.
“We never make a decision until the end when all the facts are in front of us,” Porter added. “There’s no point in talking about it now. You can’t make a decision until you have everything in front of you.
“We’re always looking for players who we feel are consistently delivering, and that’s important. Many players only deliver once, but we have to show that we can compete at the top level on a regular basis.”
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Check out Littler and Humphries’ picks for the best of the 2025 Premier League
“You have to show that you have real star quality. Most importantly, we’re not going to rush it. We don’t want to throw someone in before they’re ready, because that could be a really negative step in their career.”
“The Premier League is a tough school. When you’re there for 16 weeks and you keep losing in the first round week in and week out, it’s difficult. You have to carry that into the Euro Tour and the Pro Tour. So we’re going to make thoughtful decisions.”
“As always, it won’t be 100% popular, but it will be an honest decision.”
Humphries: 8 is a headache!
World No. 2 and reigning Premier League champion Humphries has been asked for his thoughts on whether changes are needed and understands why picking just eight players is becoming increasingly difficult.
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Littler and Humphries struggled to check out in their final night matchup.
“A lot of good players are playing well. Josh (Lock), Gian (Van Veen) and Gary (Anderson) are playing well,” Humphries said after his World Darts Championship last-16 win over Kevin Doets.
“There are a lot of good players and it’s going to be a headache for the Premier League this year. It’s going to be a tough call to pick. It’s hard to know what the perfect scenario is for the Premier League.”
“I think the Eight has always been really elite. I’ve missed out. It’s good to piss people off, it makes people a little hungry, and you don’t want to please everyone. What makes for good viewing is a good argument of ‘I should be in it, I shouldn’t be in it’. All that type of thing.”
“I think 12 is probably too many, then you don’t feel elite. 10 is the max. It all depends. 8 is a headache, 10 is a natural choice.”
Sky Sports will continue to be the home of the Premier League in 2026, with exclusive live coverage of the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more every night. Stream darts and other top sports now.
