The 2023 PDC calendar will see over 170 days of darts played around the world, with visits to new destinations and an expanded Women's Series; Belfast to host opening night of the Premier League on February 2
Saturday 8 October 2022 17:42, UK
Belfast will play host to the opening night of the 2023 Premier League, with the PDC announcing the full schedule for next year's campaign.
The new season will begin at the SSE Arena in Belfast on Thursday, February 2, the first of 17 individual venues to host the 2023 Premier League, which will be staged on Thursday nights from February to May.
The iconic Belfast venue famously saw Gerwyn Price hit two nine-dart finishes on the same night in the 2022 Premier League and will now stage the opening night for the first time.
Next season will retain the same Premier League format as introduced successfully in 2022, where the eight players compete each night in a knock-out format before the top four players from the final league table progress to the Play-Offs.
As well as the opening night in Belfast, February will also feature league nights in Cardiff, Glasgow and Dublin in a high-profile opening month.
Following confirmation that Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena is to host the Eurovision Song Contest, the venue will now host the Premier League action on Thursday, March 9.
In addition, The Brighton Centre will stage its night on Thursday, April 13, with the two venues having swapped the originally-planned dates for next year.
The season's finale will come in May, with the final three league nights in Manchester, Sheffield and Aberdeen, ahead of the Play-Offs returning to The O2 in London.
Night 1 - The SSE Arena, Belfast - Thursday, February 2
Night 2 - Cardiff International Arena - Thursday, February 9
Night 3 - OVO Hydro, Glasgow - Thursday, February 16
Night 4 - 3Arena, Dublin - Thursday, February 23
Night 5 - Westpoint Exeter - Thursday, March 2
Night 6 - M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool - Thursday, March 9
Night 7 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham - Thursday, March 16
Night 8 - Utilita Arena, Newcastle - Thursday, March 23
Night 9 - Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin - Thursday, March 30
Night 10 - Utilita Arena, Birmingham - Thursday, April 6
Night 11 - The Brighton Centre - Thursday, April 13
Night 12 - Rotterdam Ahoy - Thursday, April 20
Night 13 - First Direct Arena, Leeds - Thursday, April 27
Night 14 - AO Arena, Manchester - Thursday, May 4
Night 15 - Utilita Arena, Sheffield - Thursday, May 11
Night 16 - P&J Live, Aberdeen - Thursday, May 18
Play-Offs - The O2, London - Thursday, May 25
The 2023 PDC calendar will see over 170 days of darts played around the world, including the Cazoo Premier League, with visits to new destinations and an expanded Women's Series among the highlights of next year's schedule.
The PDC European Tour will once again involve 13 tournaments taking place across the continent in 2023, with eight events staged in Germany along with visits to the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The PDC Women's Series will be expanded to 24 events and take place at venues in the UK and Germany across six double-header weekends, with places in televised events - including the Women's World Matchplay and World Darts Championship - on offer.
The PDC will break new ground in Bahrain with the Bahrain Darts Masters - the first of five international events confirmed for the 2023 World Series of Darts.
The world's top 24 players compete in The Masters from January 27-29 in Milton Keynes, the UK Open will take place from March 3-5 at Butlin's Minehead Resort and the World Cup of Darts will take place in Frankfurt from June 15-18.
Blackpool is once again the venue for the World Matchplay from July 15-23, where the second staging of the Women's World Matchplay will also take place on July 23 as eight talents of the women's game take to the Winter Gardens stage.
Amsterdam will play host to the World Series of Darts Finals from September 15-17 and the World Grand Prix will take place in Leicester from October 2-8, with the European Championship from October 26-29 ahead of Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton from November 11-19.
The top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit will advance to Minehead for the Players Championship Finals, taking place from November 24-26, while the dates for the PDC World Darts Championship will be confirmed at a later date.
Check out daily Darts news on skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @skysportsdarts. The 25th staging of the World Grand Prix 'Double in, Double out' set format is coming to Sky Sports from October 2-8 in Leicester.
