The 2008 Whyte & Mackay Premier League Darts will be bigger than ever, with £340,000 prize money on offer for eight of the world’s top players, who will battle over four months for the £100,000 first prize.

The tournament has increased in stature in each year since its inception in 2005, and has progressed this year to be played in some of the UK’s largest arenas, including a record 6,000-plus crowd at the Liverpool Echo Arena on 10 April.

Screened live on Sky Sports, Premier League Darts sees the eight stars compete over 14 league nights, facing each other twice in the league phase before the top four in the table progress to the play-offs in Cardiff at the end of May.

The short format of the tournament, with games over the best of 14 legs, guarantees excitement and drama, and is the only professional tournament where games can be drawn.

Defending champion Phil Taylor has never been defeated over 44 games in the previous three years of the tournament, while he is joined by Peter Manley as the only ever-present since Premier League Darts began.

Wayne Mardle and current PDC World Champion John Part return to the field this year, while James Wade marks his rise to the elite with his debut in Premier League Darts.

2007 runner-up Terry Jenkins and Adrian Lewis made their debuts 12 months ago, while Raymond van Barneveld has twice been a semi-final loser in his two previous appearances.