''I’m not sure there’s anybody who say '100% I should have been in'’’ - PDC chief Matt Porter frank with Premier League Darts lineup

In a recent interview with Online Darts, Phill Barrs was joined by PDC Chief Executive Matthew Porter to weigh in on a wide range of topics dominating the darting world in recent weeks. From the ever-controversial Premier League lineup to a new big money contract with Sky Sports, see a recap of all of the must-hear comments from the de-facto head of darts right here!

Porter was quick to comment on the successes of the recent World Darts Championship, held in London’s Alexandra Palace. ''I love the World Championship. It's such an amazing event and every year it creates new stories and sets new records. I think it [this year’s event] was a tale of upsets. Obviously the nine-darters [from Christian Kist and Damon Heta] and things like Rashad Sweeting’s story. It's just fantastic, so it left us with a lot of memories,’ later going on to say that his only regret from the tournament ‘if you look back to the final was if Michael [van Gerwen] had started a little bit more sharply, and obviously I think he regrets that himself, then we may have had a slightly more close final, but it was a great tournament and one which we were very proud of.''

The star boy of world darts for the last twelve months has undoubtedly been Luke Littler and Porter was quick to heap the praise on ‘The Nuke’, admiring his maturity beyond his years. ''Obviously [Luke] Littler winning was the fairytale the world was looking for. Now he’s eighteen as well, it’s almost kind of like a phase two for him now as world champion and an adult, but he proved last year that he can deliver on a regular basis, he came back from that little lull he had when he lost from the first round of the [World] Matchplay onwards. For some players, being world champion is the pressure. But for him, because everyone was saying he was going to win the World Championship, maybe actually doing that will alleviate some of that pressure.''

Darts has become one of the most popular sports worldwide, and Porter has harked at how much it had grown in recent years. ''‘It wasn’t just the World Championship as well. I think something like 95% of the most watched Premier League Darts Nights of all time were last year, and even the figures for the Winmau World Masters, three quarters of a million on ITV4 for the latter stages. I think the fact that the viewing figures are holding up shows that number one, it’s not just people preoccupied with certain players, people are interested in the sport and the events, and number two, that old adage: ‘Darts is for life, not just for Christmas.’’

This naturally led onto the recent news that Sky Sports have renewed their contract wtih the PDC for another five years. Porter was quick to commend Sky for their high-quality coverage of PDC events. ''Clearly that contract is hugely important to the future of darts and the success of darts. It's coming up to four decades of partnership, by the time this contract comes to an end and they are the number one home of darts in the UK and therefore around the world. They’re a great partner of ours, one who delivers consistently excellent production across consistently excellent events, so we’re pleased to be sticking with them.''

The conversation then took a turn on to one of the most interesting and controversial events in the world of darts, the Premier League lineup. The eight players selected to tour Europe to battle it out for one of the most prestigious titles, albeit non-ranking, in the sport have been discussed with lots of scrutiny since they were announced just after the World Championship. Three major champions last year, the Belgian duo of Dimitri van den Bergh and Mike de Decker, as well as Ritchie Edhouse, have all been snubbed, alongside players like Damon Heta and Dave Chisnall, who have had decent years all round. There are also players who have been included, such as Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall, who have also been hotly debated by the public and the media alike.

Porter was quick to defend the PDC’s choices. ''Is there someone out there who can genuinely say: ‘I 100% should have been in it and I wasn't?’ There’s always a few people who can make a case: ‘I did this, I’ve done that before, I’m this ranking,’ whatever. There’s always people who can make a case on certain grounds, but I’m not sure that there’s anybody who can look in the mirror and say 100%: ‘I should have been in the Premier League darts this year.’ Now that’s not to say that all of the eight players who are in it, they can all look at themselves and say: ‘I 100% should have been in it,’ either, but ultimately someone’s got to get the nod. We look at everything, we look at their performances, we look at their ranking, we look at their persona, their profile, and we have to make a decision. But the news for people who aren’t in it there’s always next year.''