Premier League Darts 2025: Luke Littler defends his title as Stephen Ponting among wildcard picks in eight-man field | Arrows News

Stephen Ponting will return to the BetMGM Premier League for the first time in a decade after being named as one of four wildcard selections for darts' biggest promotion.

Banners were chosen along with Jeroen Price, Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobie To complete the eight-man field for the competition, which kicks off in Belfast on February 6.

They join the top four automatically qualifying for the PDC Order of Merit, the newly crowned World Champions and the Premier League Champions. Luke Littlerworld no. 1 Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross.

Bunting is the highest-ranked player outside of automatic selections at No. 5 in the world, with an exciting year on the circuit as 'The 'Bullet' reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship and also finished second in 2024. PDC Players' Championship Series Order of Merit.

'Hollywood' Dobey also reached the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship before losing to Michael van Gerwen, and has three wins in the Players Championship throughout 2024.

Meanwhile, Aspinall and Price have both reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship, with the latter also reaching the semi-finals three times on the European Tour.

Among the big names who missed out on selection was the world No. 6 Dave ChisnallWorld champion 2023 Michael SmithWorld No. 7 and 2021 Premier League champion Johnny Clayton.

Former world champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson He is also absent, as the former will miss the English Premier League for the first time since 2013.

Mike De Decker He becomes the first World Grand Prix champion to miss out on a place in the Premier League in the year following his capture of the title.

“Obviously for Price, Dube and Aspinall, there are players higher in the rankings than them who haven't been selected, but we looked at it in terms of the big stage presence, the popularity, the way they can get a crowd of 10,000 people every day,” Matt Porter said. CEO of PDC, on Thursday Sky Sports.

“We want people on the edge of their seats. We want people to wake up and enjoy darts.

“It doesn't mean other players can't do it. You have to make decisions about who is right at that time.”

Matches take place every Thursday night between February and May, taking place in various venues across the UK, Ireland and Europe – with stops in Germany and the Netherlands.

Since 2022, the system has been a knockout stage in each event, with each of the eight players meeting once in the opening round across Weeks 1-7 and then again in Weeks 9-15, while Weeks 8 and 16 draws depend on league standings. .

After Week 16, the top four in the table compete for the semi-finals and final at The O2 in London. The first plays fourth place and the second plays third place in a best-of-19 semifinal before a best-of-21 semifinal.

Get to know the stars of the English Premier League 2025:

Luke Humphries

PDC Medal of Merit: the first

last year: Runner-up (2024)

The best: Runner-up (2024)

Walking song: “I expect a riot” by the Tsar's superiors

Luke Littler

PDC Medal of Merit: the second

last year: winner

The best: Winner (2024)

Walk to song: “Greenlight” by Pitbull featuring Flo Rida and Launch Money Lewis

Michael van Gerwen

PDC Medal of Merit: the third

last year: Semi-final

The best: Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)

Walk to song: “Seven Nations Army” by The White Stripes

Rob Cross

PDC Medal of Merit: Fourth

last year: Sixth

The best: Second place (2019)

Walk to song: “Hot Hot Hot” by Arrow

Stephen Bunting

PDC Medal of Merit: Fifth

last year: Denb

The best: VIII (2015)

Walk to song: “Titanium” by David Guetta

Jeroen Price

PDC Medal of Merit: Ninth

last year: Seventh

The best: Runner-up (2023)

Walk to song: “Ice Ice Baby” from Vanilla Ice

Chris Dobie

PDC Medal of Merit: tenth

last year: Denb

The best: Seventh (2023)

Walk to song: “Let's get ready to rumble” – BJ and Duncan

Nathan Aspinall

PDC Medal of Merit: eleventh

last year: Fifth

The best: Second place (2020)

Walk to song: “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers

2025 Premier League schedule BetMGM

• Night 1 – SSE Arena, Belfast – Thursday 6 February
• Night 2 – OVO Hydro, Glasgow – Thursday 13 February
• Night 3 – 3Arena, Dublin – Thursday 20 February
• Night 4 – Westpoint Exeter – Thursday 27 February
• Night 5 – Brighton Center – Thursday 6 March
• Night 6 – Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham – Thursday 13 March
• Night 7 – Utilita Arena, Cardiff – Thursday 20 March
• Night 8 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle – Thursday 27 March
• Night 9 – Uber Arena, Berlin – Thursday 3 April
• Night 10 – AO Arena, Manchester – Thursday 10 April
• Night 11 – Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam – Thursday 17 April
• Night 12 – M&S Bank Stadium, Liverpool – Thursday 24 April
• Night 13 – Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday 1 May
• Night 14 – First Direct Arena, Leeds – Thursday 8 May
• Night 15 – Live from P&J, Aberdeen – Thursday 15 May
• Night 16 – Utilita Arena, Sheffield – Thursday 22 May
• Playoffs – The O2, London – Thursday 29 May

Watch English Premier League matches on Sky Sports

Watch all the events from Premier League on Sky Sports with Luke Littler aims to defend his title. The new Premier League season kicks off in Belfast on Thursday 6 February, as darts' biggest party returns to an unchanged line-up of 17 venues across the UK and Europe.

Who will win the English Premier League title? Watch all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more of the best sports with NOW.