Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Luke Humphries among players in 2024 Premier League Darts which returns to Sky Sports on Thursday February 1; Cardiff kicks off the 17-week extravaganza; Play-Offs on Thursday May 23 at London's O2 Arena
Thursday 4 January 2024 16:21, UK
After one of the greatest World Darts Championships in history, Premier League Darts is fast approaching.
Starting in 2005, Premier League Darts sees the world's best players go head-to-head over 17 nights of action from February to May every Thursday.
The top four players on the Order of Merit - Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall will be joined by four wild cards - Luke Littler, Michael Smith, Peter Wright and Rob Cross.
Immediately after becoming world champion at Alexandra Palace, Humphries expressed his hope that Littler, his opponent in the final, would be in the Premier League.
After talks with Littler and his management team, the teenager has decided to accept the PDC's invitation to play in the prestigious event.
Littler will be 17 years old when the tournament begins so will set another darts record of the youngest player to compete in the Premier League.
Since 2022, each Premier League night has become a mini tournament where the eight players compete in four quarter-finals.
The winners progress to the semi-finals with the last four winners reaching the final, where the winner of the night will be declared.
Every match is best-of-11 legs and the winner gets five points, the runner-up three points and the two losing semi-finalists two points.
The top four players on the Premier League table at the end of Night 16 in Sheffield will advance to the play-offs in London on May 23 at the O2 Arena.
The player who is top of the table will play the fourth-placed player with second place taking on third place in two semi-finals, which are best-of-19 legs.
The winner of those semi-finals will go head-to-head in the final which is best-of-21 legs and the Premier League champion will be crowned.
In 2023, Van Gerwen beat Price 11-5 in the final to win his seventh Premier League title. The Dutchman finished third in the table but got the better of second-placed Smith 10-8 in the semi-finals before defeating Price.
Premier League Darts returns to Sky Sports on Thursday February 1 as Cardiff kicks off the 17-week extravaganza. The Play-Offs are at London's O2 Arena on Thursday May 23.