Premier League Darts 2025: Luke Littler to defend title as Stephen Bunting among wildcard picks in eight-player field
6 January 2025, 09:51 | Updated: 6 January 2025, 19:05
Stephen Bunting will return to the BetMGM Premier League for the first time in a decade after being selected as one of four wildcard picks for darts’ biggest roadshow.
Bunting has been selected along with Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Chris Dobey to complete the eight-player field for the competition, which gets under way in Belfast on February 6.
They join the automatically-qualified top four 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.
- Stream the Premier League Darts with no contract
- Darts in 2025: Key dates for Premier League and more
- What is the Premier League? Schedule, format and key info
- Luke Littler becomes darts' youngest world champion
Bunting is the highest-ranked player outside of the automatic picks at world No 5, with a sensational year on the circuit seeing 'The 'Bullet' make a run to the semi-finals of the World Darts Championship and also finish second on the 2024 PDC Players Championship series Order of Merit.
'Hollywood' Dobey also made it to the World Darts Championship semis before losing to Michael van Gerwen, and picked up three Players Championship wins throughout 2024.
Meanwhile, Aspinall and Price both made it to the quarter-finals of the Worlds, with the latter also reaching three semi-finals on the European Tour.
Among the big names to miss out on selection were world No 6 Dave Chisnall, 2023 world champion Michael Smith, and world No 7 and 2021 Premier League champion Jonny Clayton.
Former world champions Peter Wright and Gary Anderson also miss out, with the former to be absent from the Premier League for the first time since 2013.
Mike De Decker becomes the first World Grand Prix champion to miss out on a Premier League spot the year after taking that title.
"Obviously with Price, Dobey and Aspinall, there are players above them in the rankings who haven't been selected but we have looked at it in terms of big stage presence, popularity, and the way they can get a 10,000-person crowd every Thursday going," PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter told Sky Sports.
"We want people on the edge of their seats. We want people up and enjoying their darts.
"That isn't to say other players can't do that. You have to make decisions on who is right at the time."
Matches take place every Thursday night between February and May and are played in different venues around the United Kingdom, Ireland and Europe - with stop offs in Germany and the Netherlands.
Since 2022, the format has been a knockout bracket at each event, with each of the eight players meeting once in the opening round across week 1-7 and then again in weeks 9-15, while the week 8 and 16 draws are based on league standings.
After week 16, the top four in the table contest the semi-finals and the final at The O2 in London. First plays fourth and second plays third in the best-of-19-leg semi-finals before a best-of-21-leg final.
Meet the stars of Premier League 2025:
Luke Humphries
PDC Order of Merit: 1st
Last year: Runner-up (2024)
PL Best: Runner-up (2024)
Walk-on Song: 'I Predict a Riot' by the Kaiser Chiefs
Luke Littler
PDC Order of Merit: 2nd
Last year: Winner
PL Best: Winner (2024)
Walk on Song: 'Greenlight' by Pitbull featuring Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis
Michael van Gerwen
PDC Order of Merit: 3rd
Last year: Semi-finals
PL Best: Winner (2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
Walk on Song: 'Seven Nation Army' by The White Stripes
Rob Cross
PDC Order of Merit: 4th
Last year: 6th
PL Best: Runner-up (2019)
Walk on Song: 'Hot Hot Hot' by Arrow
Stephen Bunting
PDC Order of Merit: 5th
Last year: DNP
PL Best: 8th (2015)
Walk on Song: 'Titanium' by David Guetta
Gerwyn Price
PDC Order of Merit: 9th
Last year: 7th
PL Best: Runner-up (2023)
Walk on Song: 'Ice Ice Baby' by Vanilla Ice
Chris Dobey
PDC Order of Merit: 10th
Last year: DNP
PL Best: 7th (2023)
Walk on Song: 'Let's Get Ready to Rumble' - PJ & Duncan
Nathan Aspinall
PDC Order of Merit: 11th
Last year: 5th
PL Best: Runner-up (2020)
Walk on Song: 'Mr Brightside' by The Killers
2025 BetMGM Premier League schedule
- Night 1 - The SSE Arena, Belfast - Thursday February 6
- Night 2 - OVO Hydro, Glasgow - Thursday February 13
- Night 3 - 3Arena, Dublin - Thursday February 20
- Night 4 - Westpoint Exeter - Thursday February 27
- Night 5 - The Brighton Centre - Thursday March 6
- Night 6 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham - Thursday March 13
- Night 7 - Utilita Arena, Cardiff - Thursday March 20
- Night 8 - Utilita Arena, Newcastle - Thursday March 27
- Night 9 - Uber Arena, Berlin - Thursday April 3
- Night 10 - AO Arena, Manchester - Thursday April 10
- Night 11 - Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam - Thursday April 17
- Night 12 - M&S; Bank Arena, Liverpool - Thursday April 24
- Night 13 - Utilita Arena, Birmingham, Thursday May 1
- Night 14 - First Direct Arena, Leeds - Thursday May 8
- Night 15 - P&J; Live, Aberdeen - Thursday May 15
- Night 16 - Utilita Arena, Sheffield - Thursday May 22
- Play-Offs - The O2, London - Thursday May 29
Watch the Premier League Darts on Sky Sports
Watch all the action from the Premier League on Sky Sports with Luke Littler aiming to defend his title. The new Premier League season will begin in Belfast on Thursday, February 6, as darts' biggest party returns to an unchanged line-up of 17 venues across the UK and Europe.
Who will win the Premier League Darts? Watch all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
(c) Sky Sports 2025: Premier League Darts 2025: Luke Littler to defend title as Stephen Bunting among wildcard picks in eight-player field
