Players Championship 31 & 32 2026 Preview
The last-but-one pair of PDC ProTour floor events of 2026 arrives in the Netherlands on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 October, when Players Championship 31 and 32 take over the Maaspoort in Den Bosch. With the Players Championship Finals and World Darts Championship qualification races still open, two quiet days in Den Bosch could decide who reaches Minehead, who earns a trip to Alexandra Palace — and who is left watching from home.
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In this Players Championship 31 & 32 2026 preview, we break down the dates, the Den Bosch venue, the format, how to watch on PDCTV and why these two events carry far more weight than their modest surroundings suggest.
Players Championship 31 & 32 2026 Schedule: Dates and Venue
- Dates: Wednesday 28 – Thursday 29 October 2026
- Venue: Maaspoort Den Bosch, Den Bosch, Netherlands
- Organiser: PDC (ProTour floor events)
- TV/stream (UK): PDCTV (stream)
- Session times: TBC — confirmed by the PDC closer to the event
Each event is a standalone one-day tournament: Players Championship 31 on Wednesday and Players Championship 32 on Thursday. The PDC’s entry deadline is 2:00pm GMT on Wednesday 21 October, so the confirmed field will be known a week before the first dart is thrown.
The Den Bosch double-header lands right after a hectic week. The European Championship runs from 22 to 25 October in Dortmund, so many of the game’s biggest names will travel straight from Germany to the Netherlands, with barely any rest between a televised major and two gruelling floor events.
Format
Players Championship events are the PDC’s pure meritocracy. Both tournaments feature a 128-player field in a straight single-elimination knockout, with every match decided in legs — no sets, no second chances. The entire event is played in a single day, so the winner must survive several matches in quick succession, often with barely an hour between rounds.
That format makes the floor dangerous for the favourites: matches are short, the pace is relentless and upsets are part of the furniture.
Every pound of prize money earned goes straight onto the Players Championship Order of Merit, the ranking that decides the 64 qualifiers for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead from 27 to 29 November. ProTour money also counts toward the main PDC Order of Merit, feeding directly into the World Championship qualification battle.
Why These Two Events Matter
The race for Minehead
The Players Championship Finals — the last televised ranking event of the PDC year — takes only the top 64 on the Players Championship Order of Merit, with prize money across all 34 floor events of 2026 deciding the field. There are no invitations and no wildcards. With only four floor events left after Dortmund (PC31–32 in Den Bosch, then PC33–34 in Leicester on 4–5 November), players on either side of the cut line are running out of chances. A deep run in Den Bosch can vault a player into the Minehead field; an early exit can end the dream.
The all-or-nothing battle for World Championship tickets
Den Bosch also carries huge weight in the race for the World Darts Championship, which starts on 11 December at Alexandra Palace. The ProTour Order of Merit is one of the key qualification routes to Ally Pally, so for dozens of tour-card holders these last floor events are genuinely all-or-nothing: one big run can secure a Christmas trip to London, while a quiet week can end the season in October.
Form before the Grand Slam
Beyond qualification, Den Bosch is the last competitive darts many players will throw before the Grand Slam of Darts (14–22 November in Wolverhampton). A strong showing sends a player into the year’s penultimate major with momentum; a struggling one raises awkward questions just as the biggest crowds of winter approach.
The Venue: Maaspoort Den Bosch
The Maaspoort is one of the most established darts venues in the Netherlands, hosting PDC floor events for years. Den Bosch sits in the south of the country, roughly an hour from Amsterdam, and the arena’s spacious halls are built for exactly this kind of event: dozens of boards running in parallel, the field narrowing through the day until a single champion remains.
Players Championship events are working tournaments rather than spectacles: no walk-ons, no crowds — just darts, with the real audience on PDCTV.
Players to Watch
The confirmed entry list will not be out until after the 21 October deadline, but the storylines are already clear. The seeds will be desperate for rhythm after Dortmund, and two one-day events offer valuable match practice plus ranking money with minimal travel.
The most fascinating battles will be further down the draw. Floor specialists come into their own at events like these, and every year the qualification shake-up produces a shock: a player outside the Minehead places or the Ally Pally reckoning who suddenly strings together the two days of their life.
There is a prestige angle too. Luke Littler is the reigning Players Championship Finals champion, having beaten Nathan Aspinall 11–8 in the 2025 final to land his first title at the event. The Finals he defends in Minehead is the tournament Den Bosch is building toward — and every player dreaming of lifting that trophy has to survive the floor first.
How to Watch
Players Championship 31 and 32 will be streamed live on PDCTV, the PDC’s official streaming service, which covers every floor event in full. There is no UK television coverage for ProTour events. Session start times are TBC. See our darts schedule for all upcoming tournaments.
FAQ
When are Players Championship 31 & 32 2026?
Players Championship 31 takes place on Wednesday 28 October 2026 and Players Championship 32 on Thursday 29 October 2026, both at the Maaspoort in Den Bosch, Netherlands.
Where can I watch Players Championship 31 & 32?
Both events are streamed live on PDCTV, the PDC’s official streaming platform. There is no UK TV coverage for ProTour floor events. Session start times are TBC.
What is the format of Players Championship events?
Each event has a 128-player field in a straight single-elimination knockout, played in legs across a single day. All prize money counts toward the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Why do Players Championship 31 & 32 matter for the World Championship?
They are two of the last four floor events of the 2026 season. Prize money won in Den Bosch counts toward the ProTour Order of Merit, which decides qualification spots for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead and the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace.
Conclusion
Players Championship 31 and 32 will never make the highlight reels the way a Dortmund final does — but for the players fighting at the sharp end of the qualification races, these two days in Den Bosch might be the most important of the season. That is the real story of this Players Championship 31 & 32 2026 preview: Minehead places, Ally Pally tickets and Grand Slam momentum are all up for grabs, and with only Leicester’s double-header to come after this, there is no margin for error. When the floor events end, the season’s fates are sealed — and Den Bosch is where the sealing starts.
