2019 Premier League Darts


2019 Unibet Premier League Darts
Winner
Michael van Gerwen
Runner-up
Rob Cross
Score
11–5
Dates
7 February–23 May 2019
Edition
15th
Number of players
9
Venues
16
Premier League Darts
2020 >

The 2019 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the fifteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 7 February at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle and ended with the Play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on Thursday 23 May. It was also the last to feature Raymond van Barneveld, as he retired from professional darts after the following World Darts Championship. He appeared a record 14 times in the Premier League Darts.
Michael van Gerwen was the three-time defending champion after defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the 2018 final. He won a fourth consecutive title by defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the final.

Format

The tournament format was modified for this season.
Phase 1:
During the first nine nights, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine contenders. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.
Phase 2:
In the seven nights of weeks 9 to 15, each player plays the other seven players once. In a change from previous years, all players only play one match each night. Phase 2 matches have been increased to a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for a 7-7 draw. In previous years, the maximum number of legs was twelve. At the end of Phase 2, the bottom four players in the league table are eliminated from the competition.
Play-off Night:
The top four players in the league table contest the two knockout semi-finals with 1st playing 4th and 2nd playing 3rd. The semi-finals are first to 10 legs. The two winning semi-finalists meet in the final which is first to 11 legs.

Venues

Newcastle Glasgow Dublin Exeter
Utilita Arena
Thursday 7 February		SSE Hydro
Thursday 14 February		3Arena
Thursday 21 February		Westpoint Arena
Thursday 28 February
Aberdeen Nottingham Berlin Rotterdam
BHGE Arena
Thursday 7 March		Motorpoint Arena Nottingham
Thursday 14 March		Mercedes-Benz Arena
Thursday 21 March		Rotterdam Ahoy
Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 March
Belfast Liverpool Cardiff Birmingham
SSE Arena Belfast
Thursday 4 April		M&S Bank Arena
Thursday 11 April		Motorpoint Arena Cardiff
Thursday 18 April		Arena Birmingham
Thursday 25 April
Manchester Sheffield Leeds London
Manchester Arena
Thursday 2 May		FlyDSA Arena
Thursday 9 May		First Direct Arena
Thursday 16 May		The O2
Thursday 23 May

Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2019 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards.
Gary Anderson, who qualified as fourth on the Order of Merit, withdrew on 4 February, three days prior to the tournament beginning, with a back injury.
PlayerAppearance in
Premier League		Consecutive
Streak		Order of Merit
Rank		Previous best performanceQualification
7th71
2nd22Semi-final PDC Order of Merit
6th63Runner-up
2nd255th PDC Wildcard
3rd26Runner-up PDC Wildcard
2nd2710th PDC Wildcard
James Wade10th110Winner PDC Wildcard
2nd289th
14th1428Winner Sky Sports Wildcard

Nine invited players were chosen to appear on each of the nine Phase 1 nights in the slots which were available as a result of the withdrawal of Gary Anderson due to extended treatment for a back injury. The nine main players could earn league points if they won or drew against the invited players. The invited players would not earn any points in the competition.
PlayerVenueOrder of Merit
Rank
Newcastle35
Glasgow74
Dublin36
Exeter56
Aberdeen19
Nottingham34
Berlin30
Rotterdam 33
Rotterdam 43

Prize money

The prize money for the 2019 tournament was set to increase to £855,000 from £825,000 in 2018. As the contenders picked up four draws between them it ended up being a total of £851,500.

League stage

Players in italics are "Contenders", and will only play on that night.

7 February – Week 1 (Phase 1)

Utilita Arena, Newcastle

14 February – Week 2 (Phase 1)

SSE Hydro, Glasgow

21 February – Week 3 (Phase 1)

3Arena, Dublin

28 February – Week 4 (Phase 1)

Westpoint Arena, Exeter

7 March – Week 5 (Phase 1)

BHGE Arena, Aberdeen

14 March – Week 6 (Phase 1)

Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, Nottingham

21 March – Week 7 (Phase 1)

Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin

27 March – Week 8A (Phase 1)

Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam

28 March – Week 8B (Phase 1)

Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam

4 April – Week 9 (Phase 2)

SSE Arena Belfast, Belfast

11 April – Week 10 (Phase 2)

M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool

18 April – Week 11 (Phase 2)

Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Cardiff

25 April – Week 12 (Phase 2)

Arena Birmingham, Birmingham

2 May – Week 13 (Phase 2)

Manchester Arena, Manchester

9 May – Week 14 (Phase 2)

FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield

16 May – Week 15 (Phase 2)

First Direct Arena, Leeds

Play-offs – 23 May

The O2 Arena, London

Table and streaks

Table

After the withdrawal of Gary Anderson, nine invited players were added to replace him with one playing each week. After the first nine rounds in phase 1, the bottom player in the table is eliminated. In phase 2, the eight remaining players play in a single match on each of the seven nights. The top four players then compete in the knockout semi-finals and final on the playoff night.
The nine invited players are not ranked in the table, but the main nine players can earn league points for a win or draw in the games against them.
Two points are awarded for a win and one point for a draw. When players are tied on points, leg difference is used first as a tie-breaker, after that legs won against throw and then tournament average.
= Qualified For The Playoffs
= Eliminated From Playoff Contention

Streaks

Legend:WinDrawLossEliminated

Positions by Week