2020 Premier League to feature 'Challengers'

Michael van Gerwen (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

The 2020 Unibet Premier League will feature nine 'Challengers' in a return to the successful format of the 2019 tournament.

Following Gary Anderson’s withdrawal ahead of the 2019 Premier League, nine players were introduced to compete as ‘Contenders’ for the first time in the tournament's history alongside the nine stars competing in the league phase.

The nine players who made their Premier League debuts as Contenders were made up of stars of the future and local favourites, resulting in a series of memorable nights across Europe.

This format will return in 2020, with nine players competing under the re-branded 'Challengers' banner for the first nine weeks of the competition.

Points won by Challengers will not count towards the league table, however their opponents will retain any points gained from the matches.

Challengers will receive financial bonuses for winning or drawing their matches.

Following the opening nine nights of fixtures, the player placed ninth on the Premier League table following Judgement Night in Rotterdam on March 26 will be eliminated from the competition.

The remaining eight players will then battle it out from Nights Ten to 16 in the race to win places in the Play-Offs at The O2 on Thursday May 21.

The nine big-name competitors in the 2020 Unibet Premier League will be announced on New Year’s Day following the conclusion of the World Championship final, with the top four from the PDC Order of Merit joined by five wildcard selections.

The nine Challengers will then be confirmed during early January.

The 2020 Unibet Premier League will be played from February 6 - May 21 2020 at venues across Europe.

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, on PDCTV-HD for Rest of the World Subscribers and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7.

Tickets for all 16 venues are now on sale via their relevant box-office:

Night One, Thursday February 6 - Aberdeen
P&J Live
Tickets: ticketmaster.co.uk 

Night Two, Thursday February 13 - Nottingham
Motorpoint Arena
Tickets: motorpointarenanottingham.com

Night Three, Thursday February 20 - Cardiff
Motorpoint Arena
Tickets: motorpointarenacardiff.co.uk

Night Four, Thursday February 27 - Dublin
3Arena
Tickets: ticketmaster.ie

Night Five, Thursday March 5 - Exeter
Westpoint
Tickets: ticketzone.co.uk

Night Six, Thursday March 12 - Liverpool
M&S Bank Arena
Tickets: mandsbankarena.com

Night Seven, Thursday March 19 - Newcastle
Utilita Arena
Tickets: ticketmaster.co.uk

Night Eight, Wednesday March 25 - Rotterdam
Rotterdam Ahoy
Tier tickets: ticketmaster.nl
Table tickets: ticketmaster.nl

Judgement Night, Thursday March 26 - Rotterdam
Rotterdam Ahoy
Tier tickets: ticketmaster.nl
Table tickets: ticketmaster.nl

Night Ten, Thursday April 2 - Belfast
SSE Arena
Tickets: ticketmaster.ie

Night 11, Thursday April 9 - Sheffield
FlyDSA Arena
Tickets: flydsaarena.co.uk

Night 12, Thursday April 16 - Manchester
The Manchester Arena
Tickets: ticketmaster.co.uk

Night 13, Thursday April 23 - Berlin
Mercedes-Benz Arena
Tickets: mercedes-benz-arena-berlin.de

Night 14, Thursday April 30 - Birmingham
Arena Birmingham
Tickets: theticketfactory.com

Night 15, Thursday May 7 - Glasgow
The SSE Hydro
Tickets: ticketmaster.co.uk

Night 16, Thursday May 14 - Leeds
First Direct Arena
Tickets: firstdirectarena.com

Play-Offs, Thursday May 21 - London
The O2
Tickets: theo2.co.uk