GREATER opportunities than ever will be available on the PDC circuit in 2016, with next year’s calendar set to include ten European Tour events and an additional Development Tour weekend.

The continuing growth of the PDC will see over 150 days of darts take place next year, with prize money set to grow to £10 million worldwide across the circuit.

Following the completion of the 2015-2016 World Darts Championship on January 3, the action will resume with the 2016 PDC Qualifying School in Wigan from January 13-16, allowing ANY player to attempt to win a PDC Tour Card.

The Masters will feature the world’s top 16 competing across two days in Milton Keynes on January 30-31 before the new Premier League season kicks off in Leeds on February 4.

The Premier League continues across 16 successive Thursdays through to May, including the first-ever visit to the Netherlands for the final league night at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, before the top four contest the Play-Offs on May 19 at The O2 in London.

Two weekends of UK Open Qualifiers will be held during February to provide the six events for PDPA members to win places in the UK Open Televised Finals at the Butlins Minehead resort from March 4-6.

The PDC World Cup of Darts will remain in Frankfurt from June 2-5, with the World Matchplay taking place from July 16-24 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

October will see the World Grand Prix take place from October 2-8, with the European Championship taking place in Belgium from October 28-30.

The following month will feature the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton from November 12-20 before the action returns to the Butlins Minehead resort for the Players Championship Finals from November 25-27, which will also feature the World Youth Championship Final.

The year’s action will then conclude across the Christmas period with the 2016-2017 World Darts Championship.

A total of 20 Players Championship events will be held during the year, while the ever-growing European Tour will expand to ten tournaments in 2016.

The action will begin in Venray in the Netherlands in February before moving to Munich in March for the first of the year’s seven German-based events, with events to follow in Gibraltar and Hamburg during May.

June will see Event Five in Austria before a further event in Dusseldorf at the end of July to then be followed by tournaments across three successive weekends in September in Riesa, Muelheim and Sindelfingen before the final event in Hildesheim in mid-October.

The year will again feature 16 Challenge Tour events, for PDPA Associate Members, with four events to be played across each two-day weekend.

The Development Tour, for players aged 16-23, will expand to feature five double-header weekends and 20 tournaments during 2016, with four UK-based weekends to be accompanied by one weekend in Muelheim, Germany, on April 23-24.

2016 Professional Darts Corporation Calendar
DATE TOURNAMENT VENUE
JANUARY
Dec 17 – Jan 3 World Darts Championship London
13 – 16 Qualifying School Wigan
17 European Tour 1 / 2 – UK Qualifier Wigan
21 Awards Dinner Dorchester Hotel
30 – 31 The Masters Milton Keynes
FEBRUARY
4 Premier League Darts 1 Leeds
5 UK Open Qualifier 1 Wigan
6 UK Open Qualifier 2 Wigan
7 UK Open Qualifier 3 Wigan
11 Premier League Darts 2 Newcastle
11 European Tour 1 / 2 / 3 – Euro Qualifier Venray, Netherlands
12 – 14 European Tour 1 Venray, Netherlands
18 Premier League Darts 3 Dublin, Ireland
19 UK Open Qualifier 4 Wigan
20 UK Open Qualifier 5 Wigan
21 UK Open Qualifier 6 Wigan
25 Premier League Darts 4 Aberdeen
MARCH
3 Premier League Darts 5 Exeter
4 – 6 UK Open Finals Minehead
10 Premier League Darts 6 Nottingham
11 European Tour 3 / 4 – UK Qualifier Barnsley
12 Players Championship 1 Barnsley
13 Players Championship 2 Barnsley
17 Premier League Darts 7 Glasgow
19 Challenge Tour 1, 2 Wigan
20 Challenge Tour 3, 4 Wigan
24 Premier League Darts 8 Liverpool
26 – 28 European Tour 2 Munich, Germany
26 Development Tour 1, 2 Wigan
27 Development Tour 3, 4 Wigan
31 Premier League Darts 9 Cardiff
APRIL
7 Premier League Darts 10 Sheffield
8 Players Championship 3 Barnsley
9 Players Championship 4 Barnsley
10 Players Championship 5 Barnsley
14 Premier League Darts 11 Belfast
21 Premier League Darts 12 Bournemouth
23 Development Tour 5, 6 Muelheim, Germany
24 Development Tour 7, 8 Muelheim, Germany
28 Premier League Darts 13 Birmingham
30 Players Championship 6 Barnsley
MAY
1 Players Championship 7 Barnsley
5 Premier League Darts 14 Manchester
6 – 8 European Tour 3 Gibraltar
12 Premier League Darts 15 Rotterdam, Netherlands
12 European Tour 4 / 5 / 6 – Euro Qualifier Hamburg, Germany
13 – 15 European Tour 4 Hamburg, Germany
14 Development Tour 9, 10 Wigan
15 Development Tour 11, 12 Wigan
19 Premier League Darts Play-Offs London
20 European Tour 5 / 6 – UK Qualifier Coventry
21 Players Championship 8 Coventry
22 Players Championship 9 Coventry
28 Challenge Tour 5, 6 Wigan
29 Challenge Tour 7, 8 Wigan
JUNE
2 – 5 World Cup Frankfurt, Germany
10 – 12 European Tour 5 Austria
25 Challenge Tour 9, 10 Coventry
26 Challenge Tour 11, 12 Coventry
JULY
1 European Tour 7 / 8 – UK Qualifier Barnsley
2 Players Championship 10 Barnsley
3 Players Championship 11 Barnsley
16 – 24 World Matchplay Blackpool
29 – 31 European Tour 6 Duesseldorf, Germany
AUGUST
5 European Tour 9 / 10 – UK Qualifier Barnsley
6 Players Championship 12 Barnsley
7 Players Championship 13 Barnsley
SEPTEMBER
1 European Tour 7 / 8 / 9 – Euro Qualifier Riesa, Germany
2 – 4 European Tour 7 Riesa, Germany
3 Development Tour 13, 14 Coventry
4 Development Tour 15, 16 Coventry
9 – 11 European Tour 8 Muelheim, Germany
10 Challenge Tour 13, 14 Wigan
11 Challenge Tour 15, 16 Wigan
16 – 18 European Tour 9 Sindelfingen, Germany
23 Players Championship 14 Barnsley
24 Players Championship 15 Barnsley
25 Players Championship 16 Barnsley
30 Players Championship 17 Dublin, Ireland
OCTOBER
1 Players Championship 18 Dublin, Ireland
2 – 8 World Grand Prix Dublin, Ireland
13 European Tour 10 – Euro Qualifier Hildesheim, Germany
14 – 16 European Tour 10 Hildesheim, Germany
15 Development Tour 17, 18 Wigan
16 Development Tour 19, 20 Wigan
21 Grand Slam – Qualifier Barnsley
21 World Youth Championship – L64 Barnsley
22 Players Championship 19 Barnsley
23 Players Championship 20 Barnsley
28 – 30 European Championship Belgium
NOVEMBER
12 – 20 Grand Slam of Darts Wolverhampton
25 – 27 Players Championship Finals Minehead
27 World Youth Championship Final Minehead
28 World Championship – PDPA Qualifier Wigan
DECEMBER
TBC World Darts Championship London

* Please Note: PDC Calendar correct at August 14 2015. Events are subject to change for operational or other unavoidable reasons, in accordance with PDC rules. Details of 2016 World Series of DartsSeries of Darts events and further confirmation of some venues for European events above will be confirmed in due course.