Darts: The 2023 Cazoo Premier League Schedule is Confirmed
Belfast has been chosen to host the opening night of darts in the 2023 Cazoo Premier League. The new season begins at the SSE Arena in the Northern Irish city on Thursday, February 2nd. 17 individual venues will host the 2023 Premier League on Thursday nights between early February and late May.
The Belfast venue with an 11,000 capacity, famously saw Gerwyn Price hit two nine-dart finishes on the same night during the 2022 Premier League. The SSE Arena has never staged the season’s opening fixture before.
Michael van Gerwen will be aiming for his seventh Premier League title in 2023. ©PDC
Next year’s Premier League will retain the same knockout format it successfully adopted in 2022. Eight players will face off in a mini competition where three consecutive wins on the night – in best of 11 leg games – are required to claim a weekly final.
First-round winners receive two league points. Runner-ups receive three, and the nightly winners earn five points plus a £10,000 cash prize. Last year every player won at least one nightly final. Jonny Clayton fared best taking four, and Michael van Gerwen landed three.
MVG Now Chasing His Seventh Title
In addition to the opening night in Belfast, February will also feature league nights in Cardiff, Glasgow and Dublin in a high-profile opening month. March sees visits to Exeter, Brighton, Nottingham, Newcastle and Berlin. April will witness events in Birmingham, Liverpool, Rotterdam and Leeds.
The season’s finale comes in May, with the final three league nights in Manchester, Sheffield and Aberdeen followed by the play-offs in The O2 London. In last year’s deciding night, table-topping Jonny Clayton was beaten 10-4 in his semi-final match against Joe Cullen.
Michael van Gerwen – who finished second in the league standings – accounted for third-placed charity fund raising James Wade also by a 10-legs-to-four. It set up a thrilling final that went to van Gerwen by the narrowest 11-10 margin. The Dutch player has now won the Premier League six times. His first victory came in 2013.
2023 Cazoo Premier League Schedule
Night 1 The SSE Arena, Belfast February 2
Night 2 Cardiff International Arena February 9
Night 3 OVO Hydro, Glasgow February 16
Night 4 3Arena, Dublin February 23
Night 5 Westpoint Exeter March 2
Night 6 The Brighton Centre March 9
Night 7 Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham March 16
Night 8 Utilita Arena, Newcastle March 23
Night 9 Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin March 30
Night 10 Utilita Arena, Birmingham April 6
Night 11 M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool April 13
Night 12 Rotterdam Ahoy April 20
Night 13 First Direct Arena, Leeds April 27
Night 14 AO Arena, Manchester May 4
Night 15 Utilita Arena, Sheffield May 11
Night 16 P&J Live, Aberdeen May 18
Play-Offs The O2, London May 25
A Busy 2022 Calendar Begins in Kiel
The Cazoo Premier League is part of a larger calendar of events planned by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) for 2023. It proposes over 170 days of darts played around the world. There will be visits to new destinations, and an expanded Women’s Series is amongst the highlights of next year’s schedule.
Having enjoyed a return to a full program of events in 2022, the PDC European Tour will once again see 13 tournaments taking place across the continent in 2023. They start with a debut in Kiel, Germany. In total, eight events will be held in Germany, along with visits to the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
An expanded PDC Women’s Series means 24 events will be staged at venues in the UK and Germany across six double-header weekends. Places in televised events – including the Women’s World Matchplay and World Darts Championship – are on offer for the winners.
Breaking New Ground in Bahrain and Beyond
The opening televised event of the new season will see the PDC break new ground in Bahrain with a new competition, the Bahrain Darts Masters. It is the first of five international events confirmed for the 2023 World Series of Darts.
A busy start to the year continues as the World Series heads straight to Copenhagen before the world’s top 24 players compete in The Masters from January 27th-29th in Milton Keynes. The ever-popular annual festival of darts, the UK Open, will then take place from March 3rd-5th in Butlin’s Minehead Resort.
Fallon Sherrock won the inaugural Women’s World Matchplay title at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens. ©PDC
The World Cup of Darts is next. It will be played in Frankfurt over four days beginning on June 15th. The world’s top stars then head to Blackpool for the World Matchplay from July 15th-23rd. The second staging of the Women’s World Matchplay is scheduled to take place on Matchplay finals night on the iconic Winter Gardens stage.
Amsterdam will once again play host to the World Series of Darts Finals. Its dates are September 15th-17th. Leicester then accommodates the World Grand Prix from October 2nd-8th.
The top 32 players on the European Tour Order of Merit then head to Dortmund for the European Championship from October 26th-29th. The Grand Slam of Darts is set to take place between November 11th-19th in Wolverhampton.
…and finally, there is December’s World Championship at the darting Mecca that is London’s Alexandra Palace. The leading darts betting sites make Michael van Gerwen the 9/2 favorite to take the forthcoming 2023 edition of the sport’s premier event. It begins on December 15th.
