
THE 2017 Betway Premier League will begin at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena on February 2, with next year's PDC calendar being unveiled to also include an 11th European Tour event and an increased number of Players Championship and PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour events.
In the busiest ever year of PDC darts, players competing in the PDC system will have greater opportunities than ever in 2017 following the continued expansion of the circuit.
The year will begin with the PDC Qualifying School from January 19-22 at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan, which will see players either win a PDC Tour Card to compete on the PDC ProTour or become PDPA Associate Members with eligibility for the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour.
The Challenge Tour will expand by one weekend to feature 20 events in 2017, mirroring the PDC Unicorn Development Tour for players aged 16-23, with all seeing four events held over each of five weekends throughout the year.
A further two Players Championships will be added to the PDC ProTour, with those 22 events following the six UK Open Qualifiers in February, while the PDC European Tour will expand to 12 tournaments with the addition of two new events next year, as the series of popular three-day, internet-streamed tournaments continues to grow.
The world's top 16 players will contest The Unibet Masters in Milton Keynes from January 27-29, with the Betway Premier League season commencing the following Thursday on February 2 as Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena hosts the opening night.
After league nights in Nottingham and Leeds, the tournament will return to The Brighton Centre on Thursday February 23, with the league night in Exeter being followed by the Coral UK Open TV Finals at the Butlins Minehead Resort from March 3-5.
Further Premier League nights in Glasgow, Rotterdam and Manchester will build up to Judgement Night in Cardiff on March 30, with Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Birmingham, Sheffield and Aberdeen following before the Play-Offs at The O2 in London on Thursday May 18.
The Betway World Cup of Darts will be held from June 1-4, while the BetVictor World Matchplay will take place from July 22-30 at Blackpool's Winter Gardens and the Unibet Champions League of Darts will return on September 23-24.
October begins with the Unibet World Grand Prix from October 1-7 and concludes with the European Championship, before November features the World Series of Darts Finals, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals, as well as the World Youth Championship final.
The 2017/18 William Hill World Darts Championship will then conclude the year's action, with play starting in December and spanning the Christmas and New Year period.
Details of tickets for televised PDC tournaments and PDC European Tour events will be available at www.pdc.tv/tickets once finalised. 2017 Betway Premier League tickets are likely to go on sale in early October 2016 and fans are encouraged to check www.pdc.tv/tickets on a regular basis.
World Series of Darts events will be announced once further details are finalised. To see travel packages for the U.S. Darts Masters in Las Vegas, click here.
Other tournaments still have some details to be confirmed as marked TBC on the calendar below, which will be announced at www.pdc.tv once finalised.
While the Betway Premier League will not visit Bournemouth in 2017, the PDC are in talks with the venue about staging a different PDC event at The BIC.
Update: November 1 - The Unibet Masters will now be held across three days from January 27-29.
2017 Professional Darts Corporation Calendar
DATE | VENUE | TOURNAMENT |
JANUARY | ||
19 - 22 | Wigan | PDC Qualifying School |
27 - 29 | Milton Keynes | The Masters |
FEBRUARY | ||
2 | Newcastle | Premier League Darts 1 |
3 | Wigan | UK Open Qualifier 1 |
4 | Wigan | UK Open Qualifier 2 |
5 | Wigan | UK Open Qualifier 3 |
9 | Nottingham | Premier League Darts 2 |
10 | Wigan | UK Open Qualifier 4 |
11 | Wigan | UK Open Qualifier 5 |
12 | Wigan | UK Open Qualifier 6 |
16 | Leeds | Premier League Darts 3 |
18 | Wigan | Development Tour 1, 2 |
19 | Wigan | Development Tour 3, 4 |
23 | Brighton | Premier League Darts 4 |
25 | Barnsley | Players Championship 1 |
26 | Barnsley | Players Championship 2 |
MARCH | ||
2 | Exeter | Premier League Darts 5 |
3 - 5 | Minehead | UK Open Finals |
9 | Glasgow | Premier League Darts 6 |
10 | Barnsley | European Tour 1 - UK Qualifier |
11 | Barnsley | Players Championship 3 |
12 | Barnsley | Players Championship 4 |
16 | Rotterdam, Netherlands | Premier League Darts 7 |
18 | Wigan | Challenge Tour 1, 2 |
19 | Wigan | Challenge Tour 3, 4 |
23 | Manchester | Premier League Darts 8 |
23 | Hildesheim, Germany * | ET1 - European + HN Qualifier; ET2 - European Qualifier |
24 - 26 | Hildesheim, Germany * | European Tour 1 |
25 | Milton Keynes | Challenge Tour 5, 6 |
26 | Milton Keynes | Challenge Tour 7, 8 |
30 | Cardiff | Premier League Darts 9 |
31 | Milton Keynes | European Tour 2 - UK Qualifier |
APRIL | ||
1 | Milton Keynes | Players Championship 5 |
2 | Milton Keynes | Players Championship 6 |
6 | Dublin, Ireland | Premier League Darts 10 |
7 | Barnsley | European Tour 3 + 4 - UK Qualifier |
8 | Barnsley | Players Championship 7 |
9 | Barnsley | Players Championship 8 |
13 | Liverpool | Premier League Darts 11 |
14 | Jena, Germany | European Tour 2 - HN Qualifier |
15 - 17 | Jena, Germany | European Tour 2 |
15 | Barnsley | Development Tour 5, 6 |
16 | Barnsley | Development Tour 7, 8 |
20 | Belfast | Premier League Darts 12 |
20 | Saarbruecken, Germany | European Tour 3 - European + HN Qualifier |
21 - 23 | Saarbruecken, Germany | European Tour 3 |
27 | Birmingham | Premier League Darts 13 |
28 | Wigan | European Tour 5 - UK Qualifier |
29 | Wigan | Players Championship 9 |
30 | Wigan | Players Championship 10 |
MAY | ||
4 | Sheffield | Premier League Darts 14 |
4 | Sindelfingen, Germany | ET4 - European + HN Qualifier; ET5 - European Qualifier |
5 - 7 | Sindelfingen, Germany | European Tour 4 |
11 | Aberdeen | Premier League Darts 15 |
11 | Gibraltar | European Tour 5 - HN Qualifier |
12 - 14 | Gibraltar | European Tour 5 |
13 | Milton Keynes | Challenge Tour 9, 10 |
14 | Milton Keynes | Challenge Tour 11, 12 |
18 | London | Premier League Darts Play-Offs |
19 | Milton Keynes | European Tour 6 - UK Qualifier |
20 | Milton Keynes | Players Championship 11 |
21 | Milton Keynes | Players Championship 12 |
27 | TBC - Europe | Development Tour 9, 10 |
28 | TBC - Europe | Development Tour 11, 12 |
31 | Frankfurt, Germany | European Tour 6 + 7 - European Qualifier |
JUNE | ||
1 - 4 | Frankfurt, Germany | World Cup |
8 | Hamburg, Germany | European Tour 6 - HN Qualifier |
9 - 11 | Hamburg, Germany | European Tour 6 |
10 | Milton Keynes | Challenge Tour 13, 14 |
11 | Milton Keynes | Challenge Tour 15, 16 |
16 | Wigan | European Tour 7 + 8 - UK Qualifier |
17 | Wigan | Players Championship 13 |
18 | Wigan | Players Championship 14 |
22 | Vienna, Austria * | European Tour 7 - HN Qualifier |
23-23 | Vienna, Austria * | European Tour 7 |
29 | Leverkusen, Germany | European Tour 8 - HN Qualifier |
30 - JULY 2 | Leverkusen, Germany | European Tour 8 |
JULY | ||
7 | Barnsley | European Tour 9 + 10 - UK Qualifier |
8 | Barnsley | Players Championship 15 |
9 | Barnsley | Players Championship 16 |
22 - 30 | Blackpool | World Matchplay |
AUGUST | ||
4 | Barnsley | European Tour 11 + 12 - UK Qualifier |
5 | Barnsley | Players Championship 17 |
6 | Barnsley | Players Championship 18 |
31 | Maastricht, Netherlands * | ET9 - European + HN Qualifier; ET10 - European Qualifier |
SEPTEMBER | ||
1 - 3 | Maastricht, Netherlands * | European Tour 9 * |
2 | Barnsley | Development Tour 13, 14 |
3 | Barnsley | Development Tour 15, 16 |
7 | Mannheim, Germany | European Tour 10 - HN Qualifier |
8 - 10 | Mannheim, Germany | European Tour 10 |
9 | Wigan | Challenge Tour 17, 18 |
10 | Wigan | Challenge Tour 19, 20 |
21 | Riesa, Germany * | ET11 - European + HN Qualifier; ET12 - European Qualifier |
22 - 24 | Riesa, Germany * | European Tour 11 |
TBC | TBC | Champions League of Darts |
28 | Dublin, Ireland | European Tour 12 - UK Qualifier |
29 | Dublin, Ireland | Players Championship 19 |
30 | Dublin, Ireland | Players Championship 20 |
OCTOBER | ||
1 - 7 | Dublin, Ireland | World Grand Prix |
12 | Goettingen, Germany | European Tour 112- HN Qualifier |
13 - 15 | Goettingen, Germany | European Tour 12 * |
14 | Wigan | Development Tour 17, 18 |
15 | Wigan | Development Tour 19, 20 |
16 | Wigan | World Youth Championship - L64 |
20 | Barnsley | Players Championship 21 |
21 | Barnsley | Players Championship 22 |
22 | Barnsley | Grand Slam and World Series Finals - Qualifiers |
27 - 29 | TBC | European Championship |
NOVEMBER | ||
4 - 5 | TBC | World Series Finals |
11 - 19 | Wolverhampton | Grand Slam |
24 - 26 | Minehead | Players Championship Finals |
26 | Minehead | World Youth Championship Final |
27 | Wigan | World Championship - PDPA Qualifier |
DECEMBER | ||
TBC | London | World Darts Championship |
NB: Events with details in Italics still have information to be confirmed. The PDC make every effort to ensure that dates and venues listed above are correct, but information may be subject to change in accordance with PDC Rules.
Events marked with a * are European Tour events confirmed in November 2016 where details have changed since the original announcement in August 2016.