Overview
Background
The 2025 Players Championship Finals is the 18th edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since the 2009 event. [1] The tournament was first announced at the PDC Awards Dinner in January 2008 by PDC chairman Barry Hearn. [2] The inaugural edition was held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet, England – the former host venue of the PDC World Darts Championship. It was won by Phil Taylor, who defeated Robert Thornton 16–9 in the final. [3] The tournament was initially held at the start of the year but was moved to the end of the year in 2011 to serve as the culmination to the PDC Pro Tour season. [4] Qualifiers for the event are decided based on prize money earned during the year's Players Championship events; the field of participants expanded from 32 to 64 players in 2016. [5]
The 2025 edition will take place from 21 to 23 November 2025 at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, England. [6] British gambling company Ladbrokes continued its sponsorship of the event after becoming title sponsor the previous year. [7] Luke Humphries is the defending champion, having defeated Luke Littler 11–7 in the 2024 final to retain his 2023 title. [8]
Format
The 64-player field will be seeded based on the Players Championship Order of Merit, a ranking comprising prize money won in Players Championship events during the year. All matches are in leg play format, with the number of legs required to win increasing as the tournament progresses. [9]
- First round and second round: Best of 11 legs
- Third round and quarter-finals: Best of 19 legs
- Semi-finals and final: Best of 21 legs
Prize money
The prize fund remained at £600,000, with £120,000 going to the winner. The prize fund breakdown is: [10]
| Position (no. of players) | Prize Money (Total: £600,000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | (1) | £120,000 |
| Runner-Up | (1) | £60,000 |
| Semi-finalists | (2) | £30,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | (4) | £20,000 |
| Last 16 (third round) | (8) | £10,000 |
| Last 32 (second round) | (16) | £6,500 |
| Last 64 (first round) | (32) | £3,000 |