2020 Premier League Darts
| 2020 Unibet Premier League Darts |
| Winner |
| Runner-up |
| Score |
| 11–8 |
| Dates |
| 6 February–15 October 2020 |
| Edition |
| 16th |
| Number of players |
| 9 |
| Venues |
| 8 |
| Nine-dart finish |
| Premier League Darts |
| < 2019 | 2020 | 2021 > |
The 2020 Unibet Premier League Darts was a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation – the sixteenth edition of the tournament. The event began on Thursday 6 February at the P&J Live in Aberdeen and ended with the Play-offs at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Thursday 15 October, after a delay was caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Michael van Gerwen was the four-time defending champion after defeating Rob Cross 11–5 in the 2019 final. However, he was eliminated from the competition in week 16, after an 8–2 defeat to Daryl Gurney, and a poor run of form saw him slip out of the playoffs, for the first time in his career.
Glen Durrant, who was making his debut in the tournament, finished the regular season in 1st place to set up a semi-final meeting between Gary Anderson. Durrant claimed a narrow 10–9 victory, before eventually winning the competition, by beating fellow debutant Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the final to claim his first televised PDC title.
This was also the first time in Premier League Darts history that the four players that qualified for the finals had not appeared in the finals of the previous year's edition.
On 12 March 2020, it was announced that the double-header due to be played in Rotterdam had been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. The following day it was announced that the Rotterdam dates would be moved to September, with the culmination of the tournament taking place there instead of London. On 16 March 2020. it was announced the round to be played in Newcastle would be moved to October, taking over as the tournament's final round.
The May dates were postponed on 9 April 2020, with the PDC announcing a fully rescheduled calendar, the play-offs now taking place in Sheffield. Further changes were announced in July and August, with the cancellation of the events in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, and the double header in Rotterdam; and the reinstatement of The O2 Arena as the host of the final. Ten nights were added to the calendar to be held behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes. The play-offs were subsequently moved to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and also played behind closed doors.
Format
The tournament format will remain the same as 2019, with the only difference being the re-branding of 'contenders' to 'challengers' for this season.Phase 1:
In each round, eight of the nine players play each other in four matches and the ninth player plays one match against one of the nine challengers. Phase 1 matches have a maximum of twelve legs, allowing for the winner being first to seven or a six-six draw. At the end of Phase 1, the bottom player is eliminated from the competition.
Phase 2:
In each round, the remaining eight players play each other in four matches. Phase 2 matches have a maximum of fourteen legs, allowing for the winner being first to eight or a seven-seven draw. 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
The only change of venues from 2019 to 2020 was the introduction of the P&J Live in Aberdeen, which hosted the opening night's action.Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the rounds in Birmingham, Belfast, Leeds, Berlin, Rotterdam, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield were cancelled, with rounds being added in Milton Keynes to make up.
 Prize moneyThe prize money for the 2020 tournament remained at £825,000.PlayersThe players in this year's tournament were announced following the 2020 PDC World Darts Championship final on 1 January. The top four on the PDC Order of Merit are joined by five wildcards.
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