PDC Hoping To Have Fans At Season-Ending Competition

After confirming the 2021 Premier League season will be completed at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes over April and May, the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) also stated they are looking into the possibility of allowing fans to attend live.

The entire Premier League Darts season, which began on 5 April, will be played at the Marshall Arena. Nights one through five were scheduled for 5 to 9 April, night six to Judgement Night falling on 19-22 April.

Then nights 10 to 12 have been scheduled for 5-7 May and nights 13, 14, 15 and 16 falling between 24 and 27 May, with the play-offs officially beginning on 28 May.

There are 10 players involved in the Premier League season, including three debutants in Jose de Sousa, Dimitri van den Bergh, and Jonny Clayton. There are also four former PDC world champions in the mix in the form of Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson. The line-up is completed by Glen Durrant, Nathan Aspinall and James Wade.

The format will see each of the 10 players face each other once during the opening nine nights. The two players with the worst record will be eliminated on Judgement Night, before the second phase kicks off in May.

This phase will see the final eight play each other another time, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals and final to be played on the final night of the competition.

Bettors interested in keeping up with the action and even playing along can get involved exploring different promos like the bet365 bonus code, to potentially boost their winnings, get hints and even follow the action live online via a live stream.

With excitement for the second half of the Premier League season reaching fever pitch, the PDC are determined to get back to normal by allowing fans to attend the events live and in person.

Due to circumstances outside of the control of the darts governing body, almost all darts tournament over the last 18 months have had to be postponed or played behind closed doors, but the PDC is confident that, with the right protocols in place, they will be able to welcome fans, even in limited numbers, to the Marshall Arena through April and May.

It is a deeply important issue for the PDC as they had developed a reputation for the Premier League as somewhat of a roadshow tournament that ran events at intimate venues that allowed fans to get up close to the action.

With everything being played in Milton Keynes, that roadshow element has been eliminated, for 2021 at least, so having some fans attend would be a huge silver lining given the circumstances.

“The PDC will continue to liaise with the relevant authorities with regards to the potential for a live crowd in Milton Keynes during the 2021 season, with any information to be announced once available,” read a statement from the governing body.

If fans are not able to attend at any point, all tickets will be transferred over to the relevant equivalent event on the 2022 calendar.

Even without fans, at least for the time being, there are some mouth-watering encounters set to take place in the remainder of phase one with former champions doing battle and rookies trying to cause an upset.