The Players Championship Finals marks the final stop on the road to Ally Pally and the PDC World Darts Championship. First held in 2009, the Players Championship Finals is staged by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) every November and sees 64 of the world’s top players battling it out to be crowned the Players champion.

The stakes are high once again in this year’s event as a who’s who of the darts world compete for the £120,000 top prize. Luke Humphries successfully defended the title last year, but faces tough opposition in a star-studded line-up for 2025 that also includes the new world number one Luke Littler.

The 2025 edition of the Players Championship Finals, known for sponsorship reasons as the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals, will be the 18th staging of the competition and will take place over three days from November 21-23 at Butlin’s Minehead.

The darts Players Championship Finals begins with a bumper first day on Friday with all 64 players in action in the first round. Saturday’s double session includes the second and third rounds of the tournament as the field is cut from 32 to eight, before the Players Championship 2025 darts champion is crowned on Sunday in a dramatic final day when the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all take place.

Butlin’s Minehead has been the host venue for the PDC Darts Players Championship Finals every year since 2012, apart from the 2020 edition which took place in Coventry behind closed doors during the pandemic. The holiday camp site also stages the UK Open, another PDC major event, which takes place in early March.

The 2025 Players Championship Darts Finals will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, as well as through the PDC’s various global broadcast partners. Additional coverage is also available for matches played on stage two via the PDC’s own streaming platform PDCTV.

The Players Championship Darts Finals is made up of the top 64 players on the Players Championship Rankings. Each year the PDC stages a number of Players Championship events in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands that are open to all 128 PDC tour card holders. The prize money won from those events makes up the Players Championship Rankings, with the top 64 players all qualifying for the finals in Minehead.

The seedings for the Ladbrokes Players Championship Darts Finals are based on these rankings, with the number one player on the rankings facing the 64th-ranked player, the number two player taking on the 63rd-ranked player and so on.

Each match in the tournament is played under the legs format where the first player to win a certain number of legs wins the match. For example, first round matches are played over the best of 11 legs with the player who wins six legs first declared the winner.

Here is a breakdown of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals format for 2025:-

• Round 1 – best of 11 legs
• Round 2 – best of 11 legs
• Round 3 – best of 19 legs
• Quarter-finals – best of 19 legs
• Semi-finals – best of 21 legs
• Final – best of 21 legs

The Players Championship darts prize money has increased several times during its near 20-year history. The first staging of the Players Championship Finals in 2009 had a prize fund of £200,000, including £50,000 for the winner. The total prize pot has jumped several times since then, with the latest increase coming in 2023 when the prize fund rose to £600,000, with £120,000 going to the champion.

All of the prize money from the Players Championship Finals is added to the PDC Rankings Ladder – the official world rankings of the PDC. In 2024, Luke Humphries retained the title and it helped him to extend his lead as number one on the rankings. Luke Littler's run to the final on debut saw him climb up to number four in the rankings and, less than six weeks later, 'The Nuke' followed up that run in Minehead by winning the PDC World Darts Championship.

Below is the darts Players Championship Finals prize money breakdown for 2025:-

• Winner - £120,000
• Runner-up - £60,000
• Semi-finals - £30,000
• Quarter-finals - £20,000
• Round 3 (Last 16) - £10,000
• Round 2 (Last 32) - £6,500
• Round 1 (Last 64) - £3,000

The order of play has been released for the first round of this year’s Players Championship Finals. All 64 players will be in action on the opening day of the tournament on November 21, including the defending champion Luke Humphries (pictured above) and the newly-crowned two-time Grand Slam champion Luke Littler.

Below is the darts Players Championship 2025 schedule for the first round:-

Friday November 22 

Afternoon Session (12.45pm start - GMT)

Main Stage
Rob Cross v Sebastian Bialecki
Dave Chisnall v Ryan Joyce
Mike De Decker v Cam Crabtree
Danny Noppert v Ricky Evans
James Wade v Mickey Mansell
Jonny Clayton v James Hurrell
Ross Smith v Niko Springer

Stage Two
Bradley Brooks v Martin Lukeman
Andrew Gilding v Dom Taylor
Scott Williams v Ian White
Niels Zonneveld v Nick Kenny
Kevin Doets v Callan Rydz
Cameron Menzies v Adam Lipscombe
Brendan Dolan v Daryl Gurney
Luke Woodhouse v Alan Soutar
William O'Connor v Ricardo Pietreczko

Evening Session (7pm start - GMT)

Main Stage
Martin Schindler v Michael Smith
Josh Rock v Gabriel Clemens
Gerwyn Price v Max Hopp
Stephen Bunting v Ritchie Edhouse
Jeffrey de Graaf v Luke Littler
Gian van Veen v Luke Humphries
Karel Sedlacek v Nathan Aspinall

Stage Two
Jermaine Wattimena v Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Searle v Darren Beveridge
Wessel Nijman v Richard Veenstra
Krzysztof Ratajski v Raymond van Barneveld
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Madars Razma
Gary Anderson v Mario Vandenbogaerde
Joe Cullen v Peter Wright
Damon Heta v Justin Hood
Chris Dobey v Keane Barry

The winners of these first-round matches will go through to the second round, which starts at 12.45pm on the Saturday (November 22). Third-round ties get under way later that day at 7pm, before the tournament concludes on the Sunday (November 23) with the quarter-finals at 12.45pm, followed by the semi-finals and final from 7pm.

The darts Players Championship 2025 Finals boasts a stacked line-up of players which includes many former major champions. Gary Anderson (pictured above) won the title in 2014 and is one of four former winners in this year's field along with the 2018 champion Daryl Gurney, 2021 winner Peter Wright and the 2023 and 2024 back-to-back champion Luke Humphries.

Gerwyn Price enters this year's competition as the top seed, having won an impressive four Players Championship titles during 2025, as well as reaching two more finals over the 34-event season. Wessel Nijman will be another player to watch after winning two of the last five Players Championship events, a run of results that sees the Dutchman go to Minehead as the second seed.

Amongst the debutants in the 2025 edition will be Bradley Brooks, who opened his PDC senior title account this season with a victory in Players Championship 21. Young Polish star Sebastian Bialecki has also grown plenty of admirers for his performances in 2025, winning a Players Championship title during his first campaign as a PDC tour card holder.

The Players Championship Finals has produced plenty of memorable moments over the years, including nine-dart legs, nail-biting finals and shock upsets. There have been four nine-dart finishes in the history of the Players Championship Finals, with Alan Norris and Michael van Gerwen (three times) the only two players to complete the perfect leg in the tournament.

Van Gerwen has an impressive record in the Players Championship Finals, having won the title seven times. ‘Mighty Mike’ also broke the record for the highest match average in 2023, posting a 118.52 average in a 6-1 win against Ross Smith in their last 32 tie.

Another memorable Players Championship Finals moment came in 2010 when Paul Nicholson won the title at the Circus Tavern. ‘The Asset’ knocked out the defending champion Phil Taylor 10-9 in the semi-finals, before getting past Mervyn King 13-11 in the final to win his first major title.

The Winmau Blade 6 is the dartboard of choice for the Players Championship Finals, with the Winmau Blade 6 Triple Core Dartboard being used for every match in the tournament as part of the brand’s deal as the official equipment supplier of the PDC. Replicate a professional-like setup at home with a Winmau Blade 6 Dual Core Dartboard, made from the finest East African Sisal and designed to withstand plenty of use.

Darts Corner also stocks many of the signature darts and accessories used by players competing in this year’s tournament including Michael Smith, Gary Anderson, Ross Smith and Alan Soutar. Upgrade your darts equipment to help improve your own game and enhance your playing experience at home!

The latest edition of the Players Championship Finals is just around the corner as 64 of the world’s best players get ready to battle it out for the title. The 2025 Players Championship Finals takes place from November 21-23 at Butlin’s Minehead, and will be broadcast live on ITV.

Get in touch with the Darts Corner team and let us know your predictions for this year’s event. Tweet us your predicted winner on X (Twitter) or leave a comment on our Facebook page.

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Pictures: PDC