Venue Arena:MK Country England Organisation(s) PDC | Location Milton Keynes Established 2013 Format Legs | |
"The Masters" (also known as the Unibet Masters for sponsorship purposes) is a PDC darts tournament which features the top 16 darts players according to the Order of Merit.
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The inaugural tournament, held in 2013, was won by Phil Taylor, who defeated Adrian Lewis 10-1 in the final. James Wade won the following year by defeating Mervyn King 11-10 in the 2014 final. Michael van Gerwen became the third different champion in 3 years when he defeated Raymond van Barneveld 11-6. The reigning champion is Michael van Gerwen, who won his third Masters title in a row by defeating Gary Anderson 11-7.
In 2013 and 2014 the tournament took place in the Royal Highland Centre in Edinburgh, Scotland and was played in late October/early November. However, the tournament was moved to February in 2015 and had a new venue at the Arena:MK in Milton Keynes, England. The tournament was held at the venue in 2016 and 2017 in late January.
Format
The tournament features the top 16 of the Order of Merit, in a fixed draw (1 plays 16, 2 plays 15 and so on). The first round and the quarter finals are played over best of 19 legs, the semi finals and the final are played over best of 21 legs.
Media coverage
The Masters will be broadcast by ITV4 in the United Kingdom for at least the first four editions. RTL 7 broadcasts the Masters in The Netherlands.