Players Championship 2026: Field, Prize Money, Calendar and Predictions

The Players Championship series comprises of 34 tournaments over UK, Germany and the Netherlands and is the main tournaments on the ProTour alongside the European Tour.

All 128 Tour Card holders are involved/can play and that is confirmed through Q-School and secondary tours as well as the top 64 after the PDC World Darts Championship on the ProTour.

Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price are among those who play in these tournaments across Wigan, Milton Keynes, Leicester, Hildesheim and Den Bosch.

The field for the Players Championship tournament comprises all 128 Tour Card Holders albeit some may decide to skip events.

This is also where the Challenge Tour comes in with top ups being dictated from the top names on the secondary tour. E.g Beau Greaves who makes a step up this year played throughout 2025 due to her high placing on the Challenge Tour.

Also often an early run of form will mean that you will play in most of the tournaments as the Premier League Darts begins to take hold and sees the big names skip.

There are 34 events over the course of the season which starts on February 9-10 in Hildesheim. There are also further stops in Wigan, Leicester, Milton Keynes which are usual staples. But the action will also head to Den Bosch later this year.

The Prize Money is set with £150,000 per event with £15,000 for the winner, £10,000 will go to the runner-up, semi-finalists claim £6,500. It goes all the way down to £1,250 for the first round losers.

Results will appear here from the Last 16 onwards for each of the Players Championship tournaments from event one in Hildesheim.

Samuel Gill, Head Editor for DartsNews.com sees Gerwyn Price shining again.

Gerwyn Price for me will top the Order of Merit. He has been one of the top performers for years on the ProTour and is a perennial winner.

Other perennial winners include Damon Heta, Ross Smith, Wessel Nijman among others and with big names unlikely to play throughout the tournament I see these two leading the way.

I don't see Luke Littler or Luke Humphries making the top 64 with both unlikely to be involved in that many events to play Minehead. I see Jimmy van Schie being the biggest surprise and winning events.

While I think Price wins the most events out of the top 10 and of those in Premier League contention as a player likely to be involved in most events.

*** Gerwyn Price

** Damon Heta, Wessel Nijman

*Ross Smith, Martin Schindler, Jimmy van Schie

Mats Leering, Editor for DartsNieuws.com has ran his rule over the crop of ProTour players with Wessel Nijman picked to be the top player on the Order of Merit.

The Players Championship tournaments are probably the most difficult to predict. Mainly because you don't know in advance exactly who will be participating, and big names often skip several days. Still, there are always a few names that usually perform well on the floor. I therefore expect that this year, too, a relatively big name will finish first at the end of the tournament.

I expect names such as Martin Schindler, Ross Smith, Wessel Nijman, Damon Heta and Gerwyn Price to do well this year. Price did very well last year, and of the really big names (Littler, Van Veen, Humphries, Van Gerwen), I think he will do best. Mainly because I think all the other names will skip several tournaments.

I think Wessel Nijman could well become the surprise number 1 on the Order of Merit and, as I said before, names like Schindler, Heta, Searle and Smith will make it into the top 10.

When I look at well-known and big names who are going to have a tough time, Raymond van Barneveld and Peter Wright are the first two names that come to mind who will not finish in the top 64. Both veterans are going through a difficult phase in their careers and seem to be gradually slipping further and further away. I think Rob Cross will make it, but I fear he will also have a hard time.

As far as surprises go, I'm also going to go for a number of new Tour Card holders. I think Jimmy van Schie and especially Charlie Manby will do well in their debut year on the floor. And maybe they'll even have one extremely good day and win a tournament.

***Wessel Nijman

**Gerwyn Price, Damon Heta

*Ross Smith, Martin Schindler, Ryan Searle