| Premier League | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Various |
| Location | Various |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Established | 2005 |
| Organisation(s) | PDC |
| Format | Legs |
| Prize Fund | £400,000 (2011) |
| Month(s) Played | February – May |
| Current champion(s) | |
| Gary Anderson | |
The 888.com Premier League Darts (formerly White and Mackay Premier League) is a darts tournament which launched on January 20, 2005 on Sky Sports, and is currently the world's largest indoor sports event. The league is now played weekly from February to May, having originally started as a fortnightly fixture. The tournament originally featured seven players and now sees eight of the biggest names from the PDC circuit competing in a double round-robin format, with matches held across the country at different venues. The top four players in the PDC Order of Merit are joined by four wild card selections to make up the eight-man field.
The previous sponsors are Whyte & Mackay who succeeded Holsten having signed a three-year contract to support the event in October 2007.[1] The prize fund will rise from £265,000 to £340,000 in 2008 – with the guaranteed minimum of £20,000 (previously £15,000) for each player that qualifies. The winner currently receives £125,000.
Phil Taylor has dominated this event, winning five of the seven competitions to date. He went unbeaten throughout the first three seasons before James Wade ended his 44 match run in the first match of the 2008 season. A new champion was to be crowned after Mervyn King defeated him in the 2009 semi-finals. Wade defeated King 13–8 in the final, to pick up the £125,000 first prize. In 2010, Phil Taylor won his 5th Premier League Darts title by defeating James Wade, who was the defending champion, 10–8 in the final.
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The matches have been broadcast on Thursday nights on Sky Sports since the tournament inception. Originally the league alternated with Premier League Snooker one week and Premier League Darts the next. From 2006, the snooker moved to late autumn – giving the Premier League darts a straight weekly run in the spring.
American sports channel OLN aired the 2006 Premier League Darts season on a slight delay, in August 2006.
German sports channel DSF (Deutsches Sport Fernsehen) has broadcasted many matches of the past two years live on TV and gives coverages of a selection of matches.
The PDC announced in January 2007 that the contract with Sky Television for coverage of the Premier League had been extended to 2010. [1]
In the Netherlands, the 2011 Premier League Darts was broadcast on RTL7 and will continue to do so until 2013.
The tournament has had three title sponsors since it was formed in 2005. They are 888.com (2005, 2011), Holsten (2006–2007), Whyte and Mackay (2008–2010) and McCoy's Crisps (2012-present).
In January 2012, McCoy's became sponsors of the league
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-Up | Sponsor | Final Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best of 31 legs | |||||
| 2005 | Phil Taylor | 16–4 | Colin Lloyd | 888.com | G-Mex, Manchester |
| 2006 | Phil Taylor (101.41) | 16–6 | Roland Scholten (92.01) | Holsten | Plymouth Pavilions |
| 2007 | Phil Taylor (99.20) | 16–6 | Terry Jenkins (90.81) | Holsten | The Brighton Centre |
| 2008 | Phil Taylor (108.36) | 16–8 | James Wade (100.14) | Whyte & Mackay | Cardiff International Arena |
| Best of 25 legs | |||||
| 2009 | James Wade (90.38) | 13–8 | Mervyn King (85.83) | Whyte & Mackay | Wembley Arena |
| Best of 19 legs | |||||
| 2010 | Phil Taylor (111.67) | 10–8 | James Wade (100.08) | Whyte & Mackay | Wembley Arena |
| 2011 | Gary Anderson (94.67) | 10–4 | Adrian Lewis (85.75) | 888.com | Wembley Arena |
| 2012 | McCoy's Crisps | The O2, London | |||
Phil Taylor is the only player to appear in every Premier League competition. Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter will be the latest players to make their debuts in the event in 2012. The top four in the PDC Order of Merit – Taylor, Gary Anderson, James Wade, and World Champion Adrian Lewis – will be joined in the 2012 competition by the four wild cards – Hamilton, Painter, Raymond van Barneveld and Simon Whitlock.
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