Premier League Darts 2026: Player profiles with Luke Humphries, Luke Littler and Gian van Veen in title contention | Darts News

World number 1 Luke Littler and reigning Premier League Darts champion Luke Humphries will headline Thursday evenings from February to May. We profile the eight players.

The roadshow event will take place on Thursday evenings, from opening night in Newcastle on February 5 to May 28 at the O2, Londonas the biggest names in world darts compete for the coveted title and a record prize pool of £1.25 million, with the overall winner taking home £350,000 and a £10,000 bonus available at each weekly stop.

The line-up has been revealed with Gian van Veen and Josh Rock making their Premier League debuts in an unchanged format.

Premier League Darts qualification involves four automatic places for the top players in the PDC Order of Merit (world rankings) and four wild-card selections chosen by the PDC, making a field of eight players for the season.

The four best automatic spots

Luc Littler

The 2024 Premier League champion and 2025 runner-up has won almost every major ranking over the past year. “The Nuke” is the reigning world champion and winner of the Grand Slam of Darts. He is also the reigning winner of the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals and will have every chance of regaining the Premier League crown.

Luc Humphries

The world number 2 dethroned Warrington ace Littler in the 2025 final after finishing second the previous year. Humphries can look forward to a third appearance in the traveling darts roadshow. “Cool Hand” suffered a third consecutive defeat in a televised major final at the Wolverhampton Grand Slam before winning 5-1 against Gian van Veen in the quarter-finals of the recent world championship.

Gian van Veen

The 23-year-old Dutchman is one of the rising young stars in the world of darts and reaffirmed his credentials by beating Humphries to win his first televised major title with victory at the European Championship in Dortmund. He then destroyed the world number 2 in the quarter-finals of the World Championship en route to his first final at Alexandra Palace where he was crushed 7-1 by Littler.

Michael van Gerwen

Some suggest ‘Mighty Mike’ could have missed this year’s tournament, but the 36-year-old has a natural place in the world’s best darts competition. He won the Premier League title for a record seventh time after beating Gerwyn Price 11-5 in 2023, but the Dutchman lost in the Play-Offs in 2024 and failed to qualify for Finals Night last year.

Four wildcard selections

Josh Rocher

‘Rocky’ will step onto the Premier League stage for the first time. He was a semi-finalist at the World Matchplay and the UK Open, and inspired Northern Ireland to a first World Cup victory in June alongside Daryl Gurney. The 24-year-old has a game to mix it with the best, even if his journey to the worlds was stopped by a majestic Justin Hood in the round of 16.

Johnny Clayton

Clayton dropped out of the Order of Merit, but was awarded a wild card place as a former Premier League winner in 2021. The 51-year-old Welshman appeared in two televised finals at the World Masters and the World Cup of Darts, having also reached the semi-finals of the UK Open, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix.

Gerwyn Prize

The former rugby ace has gone from having a love-hate relationship with the crowd to becoming a fan favorite in recent times. “The Iceman” had a disappointing Worlds, exiting in the second round to Wesley Plaisier, but the Welshman also won several titles, including the Poland Darts Masters, several Players Championship events and the Baltic Sea Darts Open. He landed two nine darts in last year’s Premier League, where he was a semi-finalist.

Stephen Bunting

‘The Bullet’ has slipped out of the top four of the Order of Merit, putting his Premier League ambitions in doubt. The world number 7 has won six PDC titles, including World Series victories in Bahrain and Copenhagen, as well as European Tour successes in Riesa and Basel. His popularity with fans helped his case. The St Helens star arrives in style with his iconic song ‘Titanium’.

How does the Premier League work?

Matches take place every Thursday evening between February and May and are played at various venues across the UK, Ireland and Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium, a new venue this year.

Since 2022, the format has been an eight-person single-elimination bracket each night, with each player meeting once in Weeks 1-7 and then again in Weeks 9-15, with Weeks 8 and 16 drawn based on league standings.

The points system is as follows:

• Winner of the evening: 5 points
• Finalist: 3 points
• Losing semi-finalists: 2 points

After week 16, the top four in the rankings play the semi-finals and final at the O2 in London.

The first plays fourth and the second plays third in the best-of-19 semi-finals before a best-of-21 final.

Premier League Darts winners

• 2005: Phil Taylor
• 2006: Phil Taylor
• 2007: Phil Taylor
• 2008: Phil Taylor
• 2009: James Wade
• 2010: Phil Taylor
• 2011: Gary Anderson
• 2012: Phil Taylor
• 2013: Michael van Gerwen
• 2014: Raymond van Barneveld
• 2015: Gary Anderson
• 2016: Michael van Gerwen
• 2017: Michael van Gerwen
• 2018: Michael van Gerwen
• 2019: Michael van Gerwen
• 2020: Glen Durant
• 2021: Johnny Clayton
• 2022: Michael van Gerwen
• 2023: Michael van Gerwen
• 2024: Luc Littler
• 2025: Luc Humphries

Who will win this year’s Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will defend his title and you can watch the action every Thursday from February 5 in Newcastle until May 28 at the O2 in London on Sky Sports. Stream darts and many other top sports with NOW.