Newly crowned World Champion and defending Premier League winner Luke Littler will headline the 2025 BetMGM Premier League Darts line-up, with World number one Luke Humphries also starring in the eight-player field.
Fresh from lifting the World Championship title as the youngest winner ever, aged just 17, Luke Littler will return to Premier League action this year looking to retain his title.
In his debut campaign, Littler not only topped the table but would also win the Premier League Darts Finals Night in 2024.
Related – Premier League winners compared by age
This was crucial in proving that he wasn’t a one-hit-wonder and that his initially ‘questionable’ inclusion in last year’s Premier League was actually justified.
His biggest challenge will likely come from current World number one Luke Humphries.
The 2024 World Champion suffered a shock fourth round exit in the 2025 World Championship and will be looking to use the Premier League as a platform to re-establish his dominance in the game this year.
Few players have experienced a spell of dominance that Humphries had from late 2023 to late 2024, where he picked up several major titles and runner-up finishes on route to becoming the World number one.
2025 World Championship runner-up Michael van Gerwen was the final player most considered ‘guaranteed’ to feature in this year’s Premier League but the full line-up has had some notable changes from last year…
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2025 Premier League Darts Line-up Revealed
PDC 2025 Premier League Darts line-up:
- Luke Humphries
- Luke Littler
- Michael van Gerwen
- Rob Cross
- Stephen Bunting
- Gerwyn Price
- Chris Dobey
- Nathan Aspinall
The 2025 @BetMGMUK Premier League is upon us… 🙌
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 6, 2025
Here's the eight stars who will battle it out for the 2025 Premier League title 🏆
👉 https://t.co/C8DHdQrk53 pic.twitter.com/TbWqE28ETu
Stephen Bunting makes a return to the Premier League after an excellent year on the Tour. He won his first PDC major title at The Masters and just reached the semi-finals of the World Championship.
This combined with his darting fame on social media meant he was a favourite to claim to spot in the Premier League for 2025.
Gerwyn Price could be considered a surprise inclusion. His ability is not in question but 2024 was a year to forget for the Iceman who didn’t make it as far as the last eight in ANY major competition.
This was combined with a 7th place finish in last year’s Premier League and multiple comments saying he basically ‘had no interest’ in playing in it again.
A QF run at the 2025 World Championship could be the spark needed to re-ignite his career though so he could be one to watch in the Premier League 👀
See also – Gerwyn Price announces ‘final decision’ on retirement from darts
Nathan Aspinall was a 50/50 coming into this announcement.
A very bad year by The Asp’s standards. An injury layoff, rumours of dartitis and just a semi-final run in The Masters meant that he’s not been a top performer at the oche.
A firm darting favourite though, his popularity always gives him a chance of inclusion and the 2020 Premier League finalist has a solid history in the competition which will have also helped his case.
Back-to-back 5th place finishes has seen him both consistent and unfortunate to miss out on a Finals place so could this year be one that he cracks the top 4?
Chris Dobey completes the line-up and makes a return to Premier League action.
The 2023 participant had also been a ‘challenger’ player in the old format and his semi-finals run at the World Championship will have undoubtedly swung the decision making into his favour for inclusion.
“Hollywood” picked up plenty of new fans during his impressive run over the last month and the PDC are clearly giving more weight to this over other major winners in 2024 who may not have the fan base that Dobey has accumulated.
How are Premier League Darts Players Chosen
Premier League Darts is one of the biggest tournaments of the darts calendar for professional players.
16 weeks of action brings huge tv coverage from Sky Sports combined with sell out arenas for live crowds.
See also – Darts fans left FUMING at ticket queues for 2025 Premier League due to ‘bot’ issues
While the tournament is considered a major title, it’s not a ranking event.
The Premier League line-up is based partly on ranking factors but some selections are invitation-only which is why the line-up is always one of the most debated topics in darts each year.
Having a large fan base and ability to sell tickets can be just as important for inclusion over a steady top 8 finish in the Order of Merit.
The selection criteria is the following:
The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit automatically qualify. That means in 2025, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross were automatic inclusions based on their ranking.
The next four players are wildcard selections and the exact selection criteria are not publicly shared by the PDC.
Contributing factors will include performance in major tournaments the previous year, a players fan base, social media following, stage performances and ‘marketability’.
The Premier League is a huge promotional opportunity for darts so if players can’t automatically qualify via the OoM, having a big personality and deep tournament runs are then essential for inclusion.
Stephen Bunting is the best example of that this year. He won his first PDC major in 2024 lifting The Masters, made it to the semi-finals of the 2025 World Darts Championship, has risen to 5th in the OoM and became a TikTok sensation.
He even had huge sporting publications in the US sharing his walk-on!
We interrupt the CFP to present you the greatest walkout in all of sports.
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) January 2, 2025
pic.twitter.com/eRD2I70qgB
The 2025 Premier League Darts campaign will begin on February 6th as Night 1 will take place in Belfast. We’ll be bringing you previews, predictions and results throughout this year’s tournament on decentdarts.com.
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