Darts commentator Stuart Pyke thinks Michael van Gerwen could miss out on Premier League play-offs: "Maybe darts isn't a high priority"
PDC
Michael van Gerwen may have won his fourth night of the season in Birmingham but in the view of Stuart Pyke who commentates on the Premier League Darts, he will miss out on the year end play-offs.
This is despite Van Gerwen winning four nights and sitting ahead of Nathan Aspinall who rounds out the top four. But in the view of Pyke, he doesn't see darts as Van Gerwen's highest priority leaning on the fact that he goes on holiday a lot as reasoning behind his decision. He also lauded Luke Littler for bringing an 'X-Factor' to the Premier League this year and that people tune in for him.
"I do think Michael van Gerwen may miss out because I just don't think he's been on it. He's been on holiday a lot and you see pictures of him and his family. I just think sometimes there's more important things in life and maybe at the moment for Van Gerwen darts isn't a high priority," said Pyke to Sky Sports.
"I think it's just sparkling every week. Of course Luke Littler has brought the X-Factor and everyone tuning in to watch Luke Littler and that's just the simple fact of it. The figures are through the roof for the Premier League meaning people want to tune in on Thursday and watch Luke Littler and it's not to say that all the other players are bit part players but that's just the truth of the matter."
Premier league darts is so boring. Week in, week out. Get rid of it. It does nothing for darts. Every year, there's the complaints about who should be in, it's a pointless competition to make the top players wealthier. If they think there should be a weekly competition,open it to everyone
The Premier League had a purpose in its early days as a promotional tool / event, now it’s just a night out for non dart fans to get pissed, hurl abuse and maybe a punch up. Eight already well of players get to share a large amount of income while the backbone of the rest of the system gets scraps. Watching the same eight players playing each other for 14 weeks has no appeal to me whatsoever, i would rather the money invested in the players championship so that you had livestreams on all boards, maybe make the last eight the evening attraction with a crowd.
I'd replace it with a 64 players tournament based on the world rankings after the Worlds - the players would be divided into 8 pools of players based on their ranking (pool 1 players 1-8, pool 2, 9-16, pool 3 17-24, pool 4 25-32, pool 5 33-40, pool 6 41-48, pool 7 49-56, pool 8 57-64) with one player drawn from each pool to form 8 groups of 8. Have each group hold a knock out tournament with the winner progressing to the eight player tournament. It would guarantee fresh faces and a different winner each week whilst everyone who gets to the final tournament is there on merit. It might not be for everyone but it strikes me as fresher than the stale Premier League. I agree with rick67 and Mysstree that the PL has had it's day and is very stale and unappealing.
I absolutely agree. I gave up on the Premier League years ago and only returned in 2020 when they had the challengers. The paranoid and pathetic players whining why they were not selected. The format is too long. It is almost parallel with the football Premier League and the vanity of me me me and fudge the lower ranked players. I also agree with Thomas Moffatt where you have some kind of format where 8 players are drawn at random and each winner progress to a winners knock out cup. The crowd are so mashed out of their minds they couldn't care less who plays.
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