The 2019
Unibet
Unibet is a sports betting, online casino, bingo and online poker platform. Unibet is a part of Kindred Group–an online gambling operator which consists of 11 brands along with Maria Casino, Stan James, www.vladcazino.ro, 32Red, and iGame. Today ...
Premier League Darts
Premier League Darts, known for sponsorship purposes in 2024 as BetMGM Premier League Darts, is a darts tournament which launched on 20 January 2005 on Sky Sports. Now played weekly from February to May, the event originally started as a fortnig ...
was a
darts
Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard.
Point ...
tournament organised by the
Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...
– the fifteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 7 February at the
Utilita Arena in Newcastle and ended with the Play-offs at
The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
in London on Thursday 23 May. It was also the last to feature
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he was ranked world number one from January 2008 to June 2008. Nicknamed "Barney", he is a five-t ...
, as he retired from professional darts after the following
World Darts Championship
The World Professional Darts Championship is one of the most important tournaments in the darts calendar. Originally held as an annual event between 1978 and 1993, players then broke off into two separate organisations after a controversial split ...
, although he returned in 2022. He appeared a record 14 times in the competition.
Michael van Gerwen
Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player, who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where is currently ranked PDC Order of Merit, world number three; he was ranked world number one from 20 ...
was the three-time defending champion after defeating
Michael Smith 11–4 in the 2018 final. He won a fourth consecutive (and fifth overall) title by defeating
Rob Cross
Robert Cross (born 21 September 1990) is an English professional darts player who competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently ranked world number eight; he reached a peak ranking of world number two in 2018 ...
11–5 in the final.
Format
The tournament format was modified for this season.
Phase 1:
During the first nine nights, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine contenders. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.
Phase 2:
In the seven nights of weeks 9 to 15, each player plays the other seven players once. In a change from previous years, all players only play one match each night. Phase 2 matches have been increased to a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for a 7-7 draw. In previous years, the maximum number of legs was twelve. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.
Play-off Night:
The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs (best of 19). The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs (best of 21).
Venues
Players
The players in this year's tournament were announced following the
2019 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.
Gary Anderson, who qualified as fourth on the Order of Merit, withdrew on 4 February, three days prior to the tournament beginning, with a back injury.
Nine invited players were chosen to appear on each of the nine Phase 1 nights in the slots which were available as a result of Anderson's withdrawal. The nine main players could earn league points if they won or drew against the invited players. The invited players would not earn any points in the competition.
Prize money
The prize money for the 2019 tournament was set to increase to £855,000 from £825,000 in 2018. As the contenders picked up four draws between them it ended up being a total of £851,500.
League stage
Players in ''italics'' are "Contenders", and will only play on that night.
7 February – Week 1 (Phase 1)
Utilita Arena,
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
14 February – Week 2 (Phase 1)
SSE Hydro
The OVO Hydro is a multi-purpose indoor arena located within the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow, Scotland.
The arena was initially named The Scottish Hydro Arena after its main sponsor Scottish Hydro Electric. During construction, Scottish ...
,
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
21 February – Week 3 (Phase 1)
3Arena 3Arena may refer to the following:
* 3Arena (Dublin)
The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 December 2008 and was re-bran ...
,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
28 February – Week 4 (Phase 1)
Westpoint Arena,
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
7 March – Week 5 (Phase 1)
BHGE Arena,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
14 March – Week 6 (Phase 1)
Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Nottingham Arena (known for sponsorship reasons as the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham) is a multi-use indoor arena, part of the National Ice Centre in the Lace Market district of Nottingham, England. The National Ice Centre and Nottingham Arena ...
,
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
21 March – Week 7 (Phase 1)
Mercedes-Benz Arena,
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
27 March – Week 8A (Phase 1)
Rotterdam Ahoy
Rotterdam Ahoy (formerly known as Ahoy Rotterdam or simply as Ahoy) is a multi-purpose complex with a convention centre and an indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main ...
,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
28 March – Week 8B (Phase 1)
Rotterdam Ahoy
Rotterdam Ahoy (formerly known as Ahoy Rotterdam or simply as Ahoy) is a multi-purpose complex with a convention centre and an indoor arena located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Opened originally in 1950, the current complex consists of three main ...
,
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
4 April – Week 9 (Phase 2)
SSE Arena Belfast,
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
11 April – Week 10 (Phase 2)
M&S Bank Arena
Liverpool Arena, known for sponsorship reasons as the M&S Bank Arena and previously the Echo Arena, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The venue hosts live music, comedy performances and sporting events, ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
18 April – Week 11 (Phase 2)
Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Cardiff International Arena (formerly known as Cardiff International Arena & Convention Centre and Motorpoint Arena Cardiff and currently, for sponsorship reasons, as Utilita Arena Cardiff) is an indoor exhibition centre and events arena locate ...
,
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
25 April – Week 12 (Phase 2)
Arena Birmingham
Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
2 May – Week 13 (Phase 2)
Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. Pr ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
9 May – Week 14 (Phase 2)
FlyDSA Arena,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
16 May – Week 15 (Phase 2)
First Direct Arena
The Leeds Arena (currently known as the first direct bank arena for sponsorship reasons) is an entertainment-focused indoor arena located in the Arena Quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the first in the United Kingdom to have a fa ...
,
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
Play-offs – 23 May
The O2 Arena
The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
Table and streaks
Table
After the withdrawal of
Gary Anderson, nine invited players were added to replace him with one playing each week. After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.
The nine invited players are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them.
Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.
(Q) = Qualified For The Playoffs
(E) = Eliminated From Playoff Contention
Streaks
Positions by Week
References
External links
PDC Professional Darts Corporation official website
PDC Professional Darts Corporation official website, Tournaments
{{DEFAULTSORT:Premier League Darts
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
2019 in darts
2019 in British sport
2019 in Irish sport
2019 in Dutch sport
2019 in German sport
February 2019 sports events in the United Kingdom
March 2019 sports events in the United Kingdom
March 2019 sports events in Europe
April 2019 sports events in the United Kingdom
May 2019 sports events in the United Kingdom