The 2020 Betfred World Matchplay is here.

After a dramatic week at the PDC Summer Series, the second biggest tournament in the sport will take place from Saturday 18 July to Sunday 26 July.

Here, we’ll let you know:

  • where it will take place
  • who’s involved
  • how much money players are defending
  • the schedule of play
  • how you can follow it with us

Where is it taking place?

For the first time ever, the World Matchplay will not happen in the Empress Ballroom, inside the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Instead, the event will take place behind closed doors, at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

The PDC still want fans to be part of the event though. They’ve asked them to submit videos to be part of their video wall. They will also play crowd noise inside the venue as well on the TV broadcast.

Fans can also download their own 180 card.

This is an image of the Marshall Arena
The Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes will host the 2020 Betfred World Matchplay

Who will be playing?

The field is made up of the top 16 from the:

after the PDC Summer Series.

The top 16 seeds are:

  • Michael van Gerwen
  • Peter Wright
  • Gerwyn Price
  • Rob Cross
  • Michael Smith
  • Nathan Aspinall
  • Daryl Gurney
  • Gary Anderson
  • James Wade
  • Dave Chisnall
  • Ian White
  • Mensur Suljovic
  • Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Adrian Lewis
  • Glen Durrant
  • Simon Whitlock

The top 16 Pro Tour qualifiers are:

  • Joe Cullen
  • Brendan Dolan
  • Jose De Sousa
  • Danny Noppert
  • Jermaine Wattimena
  • Gabriel Clemens
  • Jonny Clayton
  • Jamie Hughes
  • Jeffrey De Zwaan
  • Ryan Joyce
  • Dimitri Van den Bergh
  • Justin Pipe
  • Vincent van der Voort
  • Keegan Brown
  • Steve Beaton
  • Ricky Evans

What’s the prize money and what are players defending?

Gary Anderson will defend £115,000 on his Order of Merit ranking. He won this title in 2018 in one of the best finals ever seen. If The Flying Scotsman does not reach the semi finals, he will drop down to at least 12th. This would be the lowest position for Anderson in six years.

Mensur Suljovic was his opponent in 2018, and he will be defending £55,000 in Milton Keynes this time around.

Michael van Gerwen will add at least £3,000 to his Order of Merit ranking. The prize fund is bigger than in 2018, when he went out in round one to Jeffrey De Zwaan.

The prize fund remains at £700,000 as in 2019. It’s broken down like this:

  • Winner – £150,000
  • Runner up – £70,000
  • Semi finalists – £50,000
  • Quarter finalists – £25,000
  • Second round – £15,000
  • First round – £10,000

If you want to learn the full ranking money at risk, visit the PDC website.

What’s the schedule of play?

The draw was made for the tournament last Sunday.

Here is the schedule of play for the 2020 Betfred World Matchplay. All start times are UK time:

Saturday July 18 (1800)
5x first round
Simon Whitlock v Ryan Joyce
Krzysztof Ratajski v Jermaine Wattimena
James Wade v Keegan Brown
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Gary Anderson v Justin Pipe

Sunday July 19 (1800)
5x first round
Mensur Suljovic v Jamie Hughes
Glen Durrant v Jeffrey de Zwaan
Rob Cross v Gabriel Clemens
Peter Wright v Jose De Sousa
Michael Smith v Jonny Clayton

Monday July 20 (1800)
5x first round
Dave Chisnall v Vincent van der Voort
Ian White v Joe Cullen
Daryl Gurney v Ricky Evans
Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert
Adrian Lewis v Steve Beaton

Tuesday July 21 (1800)
1x first round, 4x second round
Nathan Aspinall v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Smith/Clayton v Suljovic/Hughes
Anderson/Pipe v Wade/Brown
Van Gerwen/Dolan v Whitlock/Joyce
Cross/Clemens v Ratajski/Wattimena

Wednesday July 22 (1900)
4x second round
Gurney/Evans v Chisnall/Van der Voort
Aspinall/Van den Bergh v White/Cullen
Wright/De Sousa v Durrant/De Zwaan
Price/Noppert v Lewis/Beaton

Thursday July 23 (1900)
2x quarter finals

Friday July 24 (1900)
2x quarter finals

Saturday July 25 (2000)
Semi finals

Sunday July 26 (2030)
Final

Who are the favourites for the title?

Now a 13/8 favourite, Michael van Gerwen is once again favourite to lift the title. These odds have come in from 9/4 following his two titles at the PDC Summer Series. Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price make up the top three with the bookies ahead of Saturday’s start.

How can I follow all the action?

The Betfred World Matchplay will be live on Sky Sports in the UK. You can also watch it outside the UK via the PDC’s broadcast partners, such as RTL or DAZN.

You can also live stream the event. Find out more by visiting this page.

We’ll have you covered here at Online Darts. You can watch our tournament preview now, or listen to it via Spotify.

We’ve also have reaction for you with every winner of every game direct from Milton Keynes. Head over to our YouTube channel and hit subscribe so you don’t miss a video.

We’ll also produce the Matchplay Daily. This round up show will feature reaction, news and debate from every day of the Matchplay. It will be available on YouTube and Spotify the morning after play.

Plus, we’ll be giving regular updates across our:

Follow all the drama of the greatest tournament of the summer with us at Online Darts.