# 2016 Premier League Darts

The 2016 Betway Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the twelfth edition of the tournament.
The event began on 4 February at the First Direct Arena in Leeds and ended with the Play-offs at The O2 Arena in London on 19 May. The tournament saw its first visit to the Netherlands after agreeing to go to the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam on 12 May, joining 15 other venues across the UK and Ireland. This is the third year that the tournament was sponsored by Betway.
Gary Anderson was the defending champion, but he lost to Phil Taylor 10–7 in the semi-finals. Michael van Gerwen won his second Premier League Darts title by beating Taylor 11–3 in the final.
Van Gerwen also recorded the highest televised 3-dart average of 123.40 against Michael Smith during night 4 in Aberdeen.

## Format

The tournament format remained identical to that since 2013. During the first nine weeks (Phase 1) each player plays the other nine players once. The bottom two players are eliminated from the competition. In the next six weeks (phase 2), each player plays the other seven players once. Phase 2 consists of four weeks where five matches are played followed by two weeks where four matches are played. At the end of phase 2 the top four players contest the two semi-finals and the final in the play-off week.

## Venues

Rotterdam's Ahoy Arena became the first arena from outside the British Isles to host a Premier League event, it replaced the Brighton Centre.
| Leeds | Newcastle upon Tyne | Dublin | Aberdeen |
| First Direct Arena Thursday 4 February | Metro Radio Arena Thursday 11 February | 3Arena Thursday 18 February | GE Oil & Gas Arena Thursday 25 February |
| Exeter | Nottingham | Glasgow | Liverpool |
| Westpoint Arena Thursday 3 March | Motorpoint Arena Nottingham Thursday 10 March | SSE Hydro Thursday 17 March | Echo Arena Thursday 24 March |
| Cardiff | Sheffield | Belfast | Bournemouth |
| Motorpoint Arena Cardiff Thursday 31 March | Sheffield Arena Thursday 7 April | SSE Arena Belfast Thursday 14 April | Bournemouth International Centre Thursday 21 April |
| Birmingham | Manchester | Rotterdam | London |
| Barclaycard Arena Thursday 28 April | Manchester Arena Thursday 5 May | Rotterdam Ahoy Thursday 12 May | The O$_2$ Thursday 19 May |

## Players

The players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2016 PDC World Darts Championship final on 3 January 2016, with the top four of the PDC Order of Merit joined by six Wildcards. The ten players made up the top ten in the PDC Order of Merit following the World Championship. Stephen Bunting (world number 16) and Kim Huybrechts (world number 14) did not return from last year. Robert Thornton returned after a year out, and Michael Smith made his début.
| Player | Appearance in Premier League | Consecutive Streak | Order of Merit Rank | Previous best performance | Qualification |
| Michael van Gerwen | 4th | 4 | 1 | Winner (2013) | Order of Merit |
| Gary Anderson | 6th | 6 | 2 | Winner (2011, 2015) | Order of Merit |
| Adrian Lewis | 9th | 7 | 3 | Runner-up (2011) | Order of Merit |
| Phil Taylor | 12th | 12 | 4 | Winner (2005–2008, 2010, 2012) | Order of Merit |
| Peter Wright | 3rd | 3 | 5 | 5th (2014) | PDC Wildcard |
| James Wade | 8th | 2 | 6 | Winner (2009) | PDC Wildcard |
| Robert Thornton | 3rd | 1 | 7 | 5th (2013) | PDC Wildcard |
| Michael Smith | 1st | 1 | 8 | Debut | PDC Wildcard |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 11th | 11 | 9 | Winner (2014) | Sky Sports Wildcard |
| Dave Chisnall | 3rd | 3 | 10 | Semi-finals (2015) | Sky Sports Wildcard |

## Prize money

The 2016 Premier League saw the introduction of a £25,000 League Leader's Bonus for the player who topped the league table following the 15 league nights, taking the total prize fund for the event up to £725,000 from £700,000 in 2015.
| Stage | Prize Money |
| Winner | £200,000 |
| Runner-up | £100,000 |
| Semi-finalists (x2) | £75,000 |
| 5th place | £60,000 |
| 6th place | £50,000 |
| 7th place | £45,000 |
| 8th place | £40,000 |
| 9th place | £30,000 |
| 10th place | £25,000 |
| League Winner Bonus | £25,000 |
| Total | £725,000 |

## Results
### League stage

12 May – Week 15 (Phase 2)
Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam
Score
Robert Thornton 85.573 – 7 James Wade 89.16
Peter Wright 90.336 – 6 Raymond van Barneveld 90.02
Adrian Lewis 93.227 – 2 Gary Anderson 97.21
Phil Taylor 95.555 – 7 Michael van Gerwen 101.24
Night's Average: 92.79
Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 164
Most 180s : Michael van Gerwen 4
Night's 180s: 14 :

### Play-offs – 19 May

The O$_2$ Arena, London
| | Score | |
| Semi-finals (best of 19 legs) |||
| Michael van Gerwen 103.19 | 10 – 4 | Adrian Lewis 95.47 |
| Phil Taylor 98.21 | 10 – 7 | Gary Anderson 96.86 |
| Final (best of 21 legs) |||
| Michael van Gerwen 104.68 | 11 – 3 | Phil Taylor 98.84 |
| Night's Average: 99.54 |||
| Highest Checkout: Michael van Gerwen 121 |||

## League summary
### Table

After the first nine weeks (phase 1), the bottom two in the table are eliminated. Each remaining player plays a further seven matches (phase 2). The top four players then compete in the playoffs.
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.
| # | Name | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | LF | LA | +/- | LWAT | 100+ | 140+ | 180s | A | HC | C% |
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen W | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 26 | 105 | 63 | +42 | 39 | 187 | 144 | 62 | 107.93 | 170 | 49.30% |
| 2 | Phil Taylor RU | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 100 | 65 | +35 | 36 | 228 | 138 | 52 | 101.15 | 141 | 46.51% |
| 3 | Gary Anderson | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 92 | 81 | +11 | 30 | 222 | 134 | 48 | 100.15 | 144 | 40.35% |
| 4 | Adrian Lewis | 16 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 89 | 79 | +10 | 32 | 223 | 109 | 38 | 96.50 | 144 | 40.09% |
| 5 | Peter Wright | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 86 | 86 | 0 | 27 | 239 | 142 | 52 | 99.04 | 161 | 40.00% |
| 6 | James Wade | 16 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 82 | 89 | −7 | 27 | 256 | 143 | 35 | 97.53 | 161 | 42.71% |
| 7 | Raymond van Barneveld | 16 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 86 | 94 | −8 | 25 | 244 | 169 | 44 | 97.88 | 161 | 38.05% |
| 8 | Robert Thornton | 16 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 60 | 103 | −43 | 10 | 220 | 100 | 33 | 92.26 | 145 | 35.93% |
| 9 | Dave Chisnall | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 41 | 55 | −14 | 17 | 101 | 67 | 37 | 98.44 | 116 | 35.96% |
| 10 | Michael Smith | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 34 | 60 | −26 | 14 | 103 | 42 | 24 | 91.40 | 122 | 37.36% |
Last updated: 12 May 2016 Source: Match reports from the results section.
Top four qualified for the Play-offs after Week 15. NB: LWAT = Legs Won Against Throw. A = Average C% = Checkout Percentage HC = High Checkout.

### Positions by round

| Player | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round | Round |
| Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Michael van Gerwen | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Phil Taylor | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Gary Anderson | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Adrian Lewis | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Peter Wright | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| James Wade | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Raymond van Barneveld | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Robert Thornton | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Dave Chisnall | 1 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |
| Michael Smith | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated | Eliminated |