Stephen Bunting is set to return to the Premier League for the first time in 10 years, having secured a place as one of four wildcard selections for darts’ premier roadshow event.

Joining him in the wildcard category are Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobbe, who round out the eight-man line-up for the 2025 competition.

The Premier League will begin on February 6 in Belfast.

These four join the top four automatically qualified players on the PDC Order of Merit: newly crowned world champion and reigning Premier League champion Luke Littler, world No.1 Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross.

Bunting, seeded No.5, is the highest-ranked player outside the automatic qualifiers.

His remarkable 2024 season, highlighted by a semi-final run at the World Darts Championship and second place at the PDC Players Championship, makes him a worthy inclusion.

Chris Dobbe, nicknamed “Hollywood”, also had an impressive year, reaching the World Darts Championship semi-finals before losing to van Gerwen and securing three Players Championship titles in 2024.

Class of 2025 🎓

Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price, Chris Dobbe and Nathan Aspinall

All kick off in Belfast on February 6th… Let’s go ✅

👉 https://t.co/C8DHdQrRUB pic.twitter.com/ZnrMJVwpt1

– PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 6, 2025

Premier League line-up for 2025

The full roster for the 2025 Premier League includes:

• Luke Humphries
• Luke Littler
• Michael van Gerwen
• Rob Cross
• Stephen Bunting
• Gerwyn Price
• Chris Dobe
• Nathan Aspinall

A host of big names missed out on selection this year, including world No. 6 Dave Chisnall, 2023 world champion Michael Smith and 2021 Premier League champion Jonny Clayton.

Former world champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson were also left out, with Wright missing out on the Premier League for the first time since 2013.

Mike de Decker, the reigning world grand prix champion, became the first player in history to miss out on a place in the Premier League after winning that title.

Addressing the decisions, PDC chief executive Matt Porter said: “Obviously with Price, Dobbey and Aspinall, there are players above them in the rankings who haven’t been selected, but we’ve looked at that in terms of presence on the big stage, popularity. , and the way they can get crowds of 10,000 people every Thursday.

“We see people on the edge of their seats. We want people to get up and enjoy their darts. That doesn’t mean other players can’t do it. You have to decide who is right at that time.”

The Premier League follows a knockout format, with each event having a bracket of eight players.

In the first seven weeks, each player will face each other competitor once in the opening round. The matchups are repeated in Weeks 9–15, while the Week 8 and Week 16 fixtures are based on league standings.

2025 @BetMGMUK The Premier League is upon us… 🙌

Here are eight stars who will battle it out for the 2025 Premier League title 🏆

👉 https://t.co/C8DHdQrk53 pic.twitter.com/TbWqE28ETu

– PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 6, 2025

After 16 weeks, the top four players in the league standings will advance to the semi-finals and finals held at The O2 in London.

The semi-finals are played in a best-of-19-leg format, with the final played over 21 legs.

2025 Premier League Schedule

Here is the complete schedule for this year’s Premier League:

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