Matt Porter discusses PDC Home Tour and raises World Matchplay concerns

PDC chief executive Matt Porter has opened up on the PDC Home Tour and the post-lockdown challenges facing the organisation.

The Home Tour gives the PDC a unique opportunity to continue showcasing top level sport. And it has already paid dividends, with Luke Woodhouse's historic nine-darter the highlight of two much-viewed nights of play. Before the Home Tour started, Porter spoke to Tungsten Tales about the new event.

"We're always trying to be creative and innovative. We trialled a couple of Darts At Home nights with a few of the lads, and it went down pretty well," he said.

We looked at a way in which we could deliver some content to our fans, at a time when nobody's getting anything, and also giving the players something to do.

It's going to be fun, it's going to be different. It's going to have some technical challenges," said Porter, a comment which neatly prophesied the issues which marred the start of the Home Tour.

At the moment, it's the right product for the right time."

Winner-less tournament?

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. The PDC Home Tour's birth has come about purely as a result of the COVID-19-enforced lockdown. Porter admitted that its purpose will be served once the lockdown ends, meaning that the group phase could be the first and last stage of the event.

"At the moment there isn't really a champion, so to speak, because there's 32 groups of four players," Porter explained.

"We do have the option, of course, to take those 32 group winners on into a final phase. It all depends on how long the current restrictions last and how well the tournament runs.

"We're treating it for what it is. It's going to be good entertainment for darts fans and content for some of our partners who don't have content at the moment.

"Are we looking for an overall winner? We're taking it day by day, week by week. But we do have the option if it suits."

Post-lockdown challenge

Eventually, darts will return to arenas, and things will go back to normal. Given recent news of a lockdown extension, the summer's events will be at risk of further postponement or even cancellation.

There is also the added challenge of determining fair qualification rules even if the majors do take place, with Pro Tour and European Tour events likely to suffer most as a result of the hiatus.

Discussing action on the affected tournaments, Porter revealed: "It's not a decision we've made yet.

"Once we've got a little bit more of a steer as to how many events we can get before those cut-off dates, we can fit the most appropriate criteria.

"We don't think that we'll be able to do much with the European Tour in the middle third of the year.

"With the Matchplay, there's question marks over whether or not the Matchplay can take place.

"We hope it can, and we'll do everything we can to protect it.

"But the third week of July will be in the balance."