THE world's best darts players return to the BIC on February 28 for the 2008 Premier League.

The £340,000 tournament features eight top players, headed by 13-time World Champion Phil Taylor - the defending Premier League champion - and current world champion Raymond van Barneveld.

The stars compete over 14 league nights, with each game the best of 14 legs before the top four battle it out in May in the play-offs, with the winner taking home £100,000.

Bournemouth has hosted the Premier League in the past two years, with van Barneveld hitting a historic nine-dart leg in 2006 - the only time a "perfect leg" has been achieved in the tournament's history.

Tickets cost £25 and £20 and go on sale on Tuesday.

"The tournament has grown enormously each year since being introduced in 2005 and we are looking forward to the 2008 Premier League Darts," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.

"This year we were able to take the Premier League to arena venues and the response was incredible. Seeing 5,000 fans at Sheffield and Birmingham was tremendous and I'm sure they will come again next year.

"In many ways Bournemouth was the pioneer for this expansion when we first visited the BIC in 2005 and we are delighted to be spreading our wings even further by linking up with famous arenas at Wembley, Belfast, Liverpool, Manchester and the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, showing the appetite for darts around the UK."

Next year's event will see several new faces, including newly-crowned World Matchplay champion James Wade.

The top six players in the PDC order of merit gain automatic qualification to the league, along with two wild cards.