| Tournament Name: | 2016 Unibet Champions League of Darts |
| Dates: | 24–25 September 2016 |
| Venue: | Motorpoint Arena Cardiff |
| Location: | Cardiff |
| Organisation: | PDC |
| Format: | Legs |
| Prize Fund: | £250,000 |
| Winners Share: | £100,000 |
| High Checkout: | 167 Phil Taylor (group stage, second match) |
| Winner: | Phil Taylor |
| Next: | 2017 |
The 2016 Champions League of Darts, also known as the Unibet Champions League of Darts for sponsorship purposes, was the inaugural staging of the tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. It took place from 24–25 September 2016 at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Wales. Phil Taylor won, defeating Michael van Gerwen 11–5 in the final.[1]
The eight qualifying entrants were first split into two groups of four, playing each other once in best of 19-legged matches. The top two players in each group then proceeded to a knockout stage of two semi-finals and a final, all best of 21 legs.
Only the top eight players on the PDC Order of Merit on 12 August 2016 qualified for the tournament; they were:
The prize money was distributed as follows:[2]
| Stage (number of players) | Prize money (Total: £250,000) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | align=center | (1) | align=center | £100,000 | |
| Runner-up | align=center | (1) | align=center | £50,000 | |
| Semi-finalists | align=center | (2) | align=center | £25,000 | |
| Third in group stage | align=center | (2) | align=center | £15,000 | |
| Fourth in group stage | align=center | (2) | align=center | £10,000 | |
All matches first-to-10 (best of 19 legs)
NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/− = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Average = 3-dart average; Pts = Points; Q = Qualified for K.O. phase
| width=20 | Pos. | width=180 | Player | width=20 | P | width=20 | W | width=20 | L | width=20 | LF | width=20 | LA | width=25 | +/– | width=20 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 11 | +19 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 3 | Peter Wright (5) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 26 | –6 | 2 | |||||||||
| 4 | Robert Thornton (8) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 30 | –17 | 0 |
24 September
| width=223 | width=100 | width=223 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 102.66 (4) Phil Taylor | 10 – 5 | (5) Peter Wright 97.70 | |||
| 10 – 5 | 91.10 |
24 September
| width=227 | width=100 | width=229 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 – 10 | (4) Phil Taylor 107.49 | ||||
| 94.30 (5) Peter Wright | 10 – 6 | (8) Robert Thornton 90.80 |
25 September
| width=223 | width=100 | width=223 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 108.31 (4) Phil Taylor | 10 – 2 | (8) Robert Thornton 100.62 | |||
| 10 – 5 | (5) Peter Wright 94.85 |
| width=20 | Pos. | width=180 | Player | width=20 | P | width=20 | W | width=20 | L | width=20 | LF | width=20 | LA | width=25 | width=20 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 18 | +12 | 6 | ||||||||||
| 2 | James Wade (6) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 18 | +10 | 4 | |||||||||
| 3 | Adrian Lewis (3) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 28 | –10 | 2 | |||||||||
| 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 30 | –12 | 0 |
24 September
| width=223 | width=100 | width=223 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 96.86 (2) Gary Anderson | 10 – 5 | (7) Michael Smith 87.65 | |||
| 97.48 | 3 – 10 | (6) James Wade 103.49 |
24 September
| width=223 | width=100 | width=223 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 95.85 (3) Adrian Lewis | 10 – 8 | (7) Michael Smith 87.28 | |||
| 94.62 (2) Gary Anderson | 10 – 8 | (6) James Wade 90.66 |
25 September
| width=223 | width=100 | width=223 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 103.03 (6) James Wade | 10 – 5 | (7) Michael Smith 95.30 | |||
| 91.18 (2) Gary Anderson | 10 – 5 | (3) Adrian Lewis 92.01 |
In the United Kingdom, the event was televised by the BBC. The first group games were televised on BBC One; and, from the second group games onwards, BBC Two. Jason Mohammad presented coverage with Paul Nicholson, Mark Webster, and Alan Warriner-Little being the analysts. Vassos Alexander, Dan Dawson, Nicholson, and Warriner-Little were the match commentators.