Luke Littler‘s spot in the 2025 Premier League Darts line-up has been confirmed, with all eight names announced on Monday afternoon.
The 17-year-old is still settling into life as the champion of the world on the back of his 7-3 victory over Michael ven Gerwen at Ally Pally on Friday night and is enjoying some time off ahead of the Bahrain Darts Masters.
Last season, in his first year on the Pro Tour, Littler won the Premier League, which his participation was confirmed in just days after he had finished runner-up to Luke Humphries in the World Championship.
Eight players have been named in total, including Humphries, Van Gerwen and losing Worlds semi-finalists Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey.
The top five in the world were therefore named, as well as Gerwyn Price who is ranked ninth, Chris Dobey in 10th and Nathan Aspinall in 11th.
The competition will be played over 17 weeks from February 6, culminating in the play-offs at the O2 Arena on May 29.
Luke Littler has been confirmed as a participant in the Premier League of Darts for 2025
The new world champion won the 2024 edition, beating Luke Humphries in the final at the O2
Michael van Gerwen (left), who Littler beat in the World final, is also set to take part
Traditionally, one of the first matches on the first night of the Premier League is a repeat of the World Championship final, meaning Littler is likely to take on Van Gerwen on night one in Belfast.
The tour will then head to Glasgow and Dublin before the first night in England in Exeter towards the end of February.
Played every Thursday, Brighton, Nottingham, Cardiff, Newcastle, Berlin and Manchester will also be host locations for the tournament.
Another European city playing host will be Rotterdam in the Netherlands, while Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and Aberdeen will also host the Premier League this year.
The final night before the play-offs will be in Sheffield.
Since 2022, the format of the competition has changed, with a mini-tournament played between the eight players every night.
Players face off in the first round once in weeks one to seven and then again in weeks nine to 15 with weeks eight and 16 based on league standings. All matches are best of 11 in legs.
The night’s winner is awarded five points, the runner-up three points, and losing semi-finalists two points.
Humphries, as world No 1, has secured his spot in the eight-man line-up for the season
Gerwyn Price has also been included despite a lower world ranking than some others
Among those who will be disappointed to miss out will be Dave Chisnall, who is ranked No 6 in the world, Damon Heta, who is ranked No 8 and hit a nine-darter at Ally Pally and Peter Wright, who is out for the first time in 12 years.
Michael Smith, who lost in the second round at the Worlds but was previously World No 2 and won the competition in 2023, also doesn’t get a spot.
‘We are really excited by this year’s line-up, which I’m sure will entertain our incredible crowds across the UK and Europe,’ PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter said.
‘The BetMGM Premier League will reach a huge live audience across the next four months, following record-breaking ticket sales for the 2025 season.
‘All eight players have pedigree on the biggest stage, and fresh from some brilliant performances at the World Darts Championship we’re looking forward to 17 brilliant weeks of competition.’
He added on Sky Sports: ‘We pick the top four, they have earned their right, then we look at players who have performed well in the year, have that big stage presence, a big CV, who we feel are ready to prove a point or are in form.
‘There is always someone who feels disappointed, someone who feels a bit lucky. But as long as people are talking about it, we have done our job.
The Bahrain Darts Masters will kick off on January 16 in a two-day event.
After that, the Dutch Darts Masters will take place from January 24 to 25, followed by the Winmau World Masters between January 30 and February 2. The Premier League will then kick off.
