"It would certainly be in that latter stage rather than in the ascendancy" - Matt Porter admits Premier League Darts format at 'end of life cycle'

As another Premier League Darts campaign comes to an end, many fans are starting to debrief the events over the past 17 weeks. It ended with Luke Littler defeating Luke Humphries in a thrilling final to regain his crown, but a lot of the talk has been based around the format and how it could be improved. One person listening to this is PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter who sat down with Oche180 to discuss this among a range of topics in the darting world.

In Porter's mind, this Premier League has been very successful and fruitful, pinpointing the introduction of Antwerp to the calendar. "I think it's reached the expectation levels that we set for it. We've had sold-out arenas every week and went to Antwerp for the first time, which was very exciting," he began.

"We've had a lot of drama, nine-dart finishes and plenty of talking points. There’s been jeopardy in the qualification race — not quite until the last night, but certainly throughout the season. So, yeah, we've seen a lot."

There was most certainly jeopardy. While Luke Littler and Jonny Clayton breezed to the O2, it was much more tense for Gerwyn Price and Luke Humphries. As Price almost slipped back into the pack, Humphries made a last-minute dash to glory with a first nightly win of the campaign in Birmingham where the pair of them qualified for finals night with a week to spare.

While many darts fans have been fixed to this pulsating battle, the discourse around the format is still a very talked about matter. After the knockout format was introduced in 2022, it got a lot of praise. After five years of using it, many are wanting change once more.

"I think people see this tournament — and this format — through different eyes," Porter commented. "If you go to an arena as a spectator, you want to see a winner on the night and you want drama right until the very last dart. If you watch every week on TV, some people say they want to see the top players playing each other all the time. Others say that repetition takes away some of the drama.

"So there are different perspectives, and we try to balance them and find the right answers. You're never going to please everybody with everything you do, but while people are talking about it, that shows they care — and we can't ask for much more than that."

He admitted that we could be near the end of the life cycle of this format. "Yeah, probably. We've had it for four years, so we wouldn't have it for eight years. If you look at the life cycle of it, then yes, it would certainly be in that latter stage rather than in the ascendancy."

Always a contentious decision, it is guaranteed that not everyone will be happy about the Premier League lineup with a lot of chat when it is decided and confirmed. This year is not an exception. Stephen Bunting's inclusion over the likes of Nathan Aspinall, Danny Noppert and James Wade got many people talking.

Porter listed the factors which go into picking out the eight players. "The factors that are considered include playing performance, star quality, how you've performed in major events over the previous year, your ranking, your on-stage presence and how you conduct yourself.

"There’s a whole range of different factors taken into consideration, and there isn't an algorithm or mathematical formula behind it. There's a lot of judgement involved, and we take a view on where we feel it's right to include or not include somebody.

"We want to keep it fresh. I think there were three changes to this year's line-up. You wouldn't want to turn up at the same venues year after year with exactly the same players repeating what they did the previous season. So you have to evolve it and keep it moving. You also want players to feel that jeopardy of not knowing whether they're in or not, because it becomes a major talking point throughout the year."

Porter was not shying away from it being a difficult process. "It's not often that you get 100% agreement," he acknowledged. "It's a bit like a judge asking for a unanimous verdict and then settling for a majority verdict. Generally, there's consensus over about 95% of it. There might be a little difference of opinion over the rest, and that probably shows how close it can be. Sometimes players can be very unlucky to be left out."

As the sport grows, expectations with it shoot up. An example was Littler's manager pressuring for a personal chef after not being happy about the food at venues. "I don't think that was quite what was asked for, and I think there may have been a little bit of misinterpretation," Porter cleared up.

"We've been working with all the players on the facilities available to them at venues because it's not like football, where you're the home team and go into your own dressing room every week. Every venue is different and the facilities vary hugely. We try to make sure the players have the best environment possible, and it shows how far the game has come that we're able to do that now. It's really been a process of evolution and communication to make sure we're delivering the best environment for the players."

This follows on with players being treated like proper athletes, or at least through the eyes of Porter. "Yeah, and they do. You've now got players who have never played in a pub. That's a completely different generation compared to players who only ever played in pubs. The game has come out of the pub in so many ways. It still has its roots and heritage there, and that's important, but it's now a professional sport played in front of sold-out arenas like you'll see here. It's been a huge evolution — one that's taken two decades, not even to complete, but to get to where we are now."

Darts is growing globally. This can be showcased with the World Series of Darts events being spread out around the globe. The most recent acquisition was the Saudi Darts Masters. "As you say, Saudi Arabia invests heavily in sport, and often in sports where they want to encourage local participation and development," Porter said, wanting to follow in the footsteps of other sports.

"For example, they built a snooker academy and are looking at what they can do in darts. I think that's a positive. Obviously, there have been some strategic changes in certain investments they've made in recent years, but we're expecting to go back there in January and I'm sure the event will be well received again."

He confirmed that they will be back there in January with there no discussion around moving a major event there. "No, that's not something we've ever discussed. That's just people speculating, I think."

The United States have also got involved with a recent investment seeing a minority stake acquired in Matchroom. It comes with Barry Hearn's plan of going global with America the obvious candidate. "That's exactly what we're planning," Porter confirmed. "We want to improve the status of darts in America. It's played widely across the country, but it's not really perceived as a professional sport.

"Our plan is to work with local stakeholders and hopefully find new partners who can help us commercialise the sport and take it to a wider audience. We want a broader broadcast audience, sponsors who are interested in the sport, and more fans buying tickets. Ultimately, the reason for all of that is because we want to produce an American darting superstar."

It is trickier to do this in another part of the world. "The market is huge, and it's not really one market. It's dangerous to look at America simply as one country because there are so many regional differences and factors to consider. It's also a very mature sports market. It's difficult for any sport to break into the mainstream there, especially a sport that hasn't traditionally had a professional foundation in the United States. So we're starting from a long way back, but they're roads we've travelled before in other countries. They may just be longer roads in America."

Recently, the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) have made a ruling preventing transgender women from competing in women-only events. With the DRA deciding that, the PDC were forced to oblige by it. "We've signed up to the DRA as our governing body, so we follow DRA rules in every aspect of our operations."

Porter confirmed there was no communication between the PDC or DRA. "No, there was an open line of communication. We were very aware of the process. The DRA took relevant legal advice and spoke to other sporting governing bodies about their own procedures and policies. They arrived at a position that, firstly, had to be legally justifiable and defensible, and secondly, had to be followed by any organisation affiliated with the DRA, which includes us."

World Athletics have also adopted a position similar to the DRA. However, Porter said that there was no influence from other sports. "In all honesty, I don't think it particularly changed the direction of the decision. It may have validated it a little, but I don't think it influenced it. The decision was made independently, based on a specific report that was commissioned and contained scientific evidence. That was the reasoning behind the DRA's policy change."