Champions League of Darts
| Champions League of Darts | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Venue | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff |
| Location | Cardiff |
| Country | Wales |
| Established | 2016 |
| Organisation(s) | PDC |
| Format | Legs, Group Stage and Knockout |
| Prize fund | £250,000 (2016) |
| Month(s) Played | September |
The Champions League of Darts is an annual non-ranking darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. Featuring the top eight players in the PDC, it is played over two days in a group and then knockout format. First held in September 2016 at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, the reigning champion is Phil Taylor. The tournament is the first PDC event to be broadcast on the BBC. It is sponsored by Unibet.
History
The details of the inaugural tournament were announced by the PDC on 9 February 2016, in conjunction with the announcement of a new broadcasting deal between the PDC and the BBC.[1] With the PDC 2016 calendar having already been announced in August 2015, the Barnsley round of the PDC Player Championship was moved to accommodate it.[2] A second Champions League tournament was duly announced as part of the August 2016 release of the 2017 calendar.[1]
Eligibility
Only the top eight players on the PDC Order of Merit qualified for the inaugural tournament, signifying the best eight players in the PDC (in 2016 based on the order following the World Matchplay in July[1]). Starting with 2017, the reigning champion was given a guaranteed slot, meaning only the top seven and the champion would qualify if the champion was not in the top eight.[3]
Format
The tournament format is a group stage followed by a knockout stage. The group stage features two groups of four, who meet each other in a round-robin format, i.e. each player playing their group opponents opponent once in a single match. The best two players in each group advance to the semi-finals, the winners meeting in a final. There is no third placed play-off. Matches in the group stage are won by the first player to win 10 legs (best of 19), while the knockout stages are first to 11 (best of 21).
Champions League of Darts finals
| Year | Date | Champion (average in final) | Score | Runner-Up (average in final) | Prize Money | Venue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champion | Runner-Up | Sponsor | ||||||
| 2016 | September 24–25 |  Phil Taylor 98.97 |
11–5 |  Michael van Gerwen 100.92 |
£100,000 | £50,000 | Unibet | Cardiff |
| 2017 | September 16–17[4] | Unibet[4] | ||||||
Finalists
| Player | Won | Runner-up | Finals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Taylor | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Broadcaster
The tournament is the first PDC event to be broadcast on the BBC, after they ended their contract to broadcast rights of the BDO World Darts Championship.[1]
Sponsorship
Title sponsor of the tournament is bookmaker Unibet, who for the 2016 season were the pre-existing sponsors of the PDC's Masters and European Championship, and the new sponsor of the PDC's World Grand Prix.[5]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "BBC Deal For Champions League of Darts". PDC. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ↑ "News | PDC". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
- ↑ Allen, Dave. "New BBC Deal For Unibet Champions League". PDC. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
- 1 2 "BetVictor World Matchplay | PDC". www.pdc.tv. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
- ↑ "Unibet Throw Support Behind Champions League". PDC. Retrieved 25 September 2016.