2019 Unibet Premier League Schedule

Michael van Gerwen (Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

ROTTERDAM AHOY is to host a Unibet Premier League double-header in 2019 as the ten-player tournament expands to include 17 nights next year, with the season beginning in Newcastle on February 7.

The huge popularity of the Premier League has seen the roadshow event grow from being held in the UK & Ireland's top arena venues to visit both the Netherlands and Germany in recent years.

Following the massive success of 2018's debut in Berlin, the Premier League will return to the Mercedes-Benz Arena on Thursday March 21 for the seventh league night.

The 2018 season also saw a sell-out double-header in Rotterdam to cater for the league night in Exeter being cancelled due to adverse weather.

As a result of that huge demand, next year will see Rotterdam stage league nights on March 27-28, including Judgement Night as the ten-player field is reduced to eight when the bottom two stars are eliminated.

The remaining seven league nights will each feature four matches over an increased format as the Premier League visits Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds.

The top four players will then proceed to the Play-Offs on Thursday May 23 at The O2 in London, where the destiny of the title will be discovered.

The league season will begin on Thursday February 7 at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, before visiting Glasgow, Dublin, Exeter, Aberdeen and Nottingham ahead of the European nights in Berlin and Rotterdam.

Michael van Gerwen won a third successive Premier League title as he claimed glory in the 2018 Play-Offs, defeating World Champion Rob Cross in the semi-finals and Michael Smith in the final.

The top four players from the PDC Order of Merit, following the 2018/2019 World Championship, will qualify by right and be joined by six invited players to compete in the 2019 Unibet Premier League, shown live on Sky Sports and through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners.

"It's fantastic that we can again announce an expansion for what is already the widest-reaching tournament in darts," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

"The Unibet Premier League has been a massive success with our growth across the UK, Ireland and now into Europe and the response we received from fans, our broadcast partners and players in both Rotterdam and Berlin in 2018 was tremendous.

"Whilst the double-header in Rotterdam in 2018 was introduced to replace the cancelled Exeter event, the incredible interest for two sold-out nights meant that it was a natural progression to compete twice in the Netherlands next year.

"That addition also means players only compete once per league night in the second half of the season, and over an increased best-of-14 leg format in each match."

Tickets for the 2019 Unibet Premier League will go on Priority Sale to PDCTV-HD Annual Subscribers on Monday October 1 (subscribers must have an Annual Subscription at 12pm BST on Friday September 14 to be eligible).

Tickets will then go on General Sale from Monday October 8. Full ticket information will be confirmed at pdc.tv/tickets. Venues may also operate their own pre-sale periods for their members.

UPDATE (Sep 28): The league nights in Leeds and Aberdeen have swapped dates. Aberdeen is now March 7 and Leeds is now May 16.

2019 Unibet Premier League

 

Date

Venue

Night One

Thursday February 7

Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle

Night Two

Thursday February 14

The SSE Hydro, Glasgow

Night Three

Thursday February 21

3Arena, Dublin

Night Four

Thursday February 28

Westpoint Exeter

Night Five

Thursday March 7

The BHGE Arena, Aberdeen

Night Six

Thursday March 14

Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham

Night Seven

Thursday March 21

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin

Night Eight

Wednesday March 27

Rotterdam Ahoy

Judgement Night

Thursday March 28

Rotterdam Ahoy

Night Ten

Thursday April 4

The SSE Arena, Belfast

Night 11

Thursday April 11

Echo Arena, Liverpool

Night 12

Thursday April 18

Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff

Night 13

Thursday April 25

Arena Birmingham

Night 14

Thursday May 2

The Manchester Arena

Night 15

Thursday May 9

The FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield

Night 16

Thursday May 16

First Direct Arena, Leeds

Play-Offs

Thursday May 23

The O2, London

Ticket information & Terms & Conditions available at pdc.tv/tickets.