Mason believes Van Barneveld could get final Premier League spot: “If he gets a tour card, I think they’ll put him in”

The tenth spot in the Premier League has yet to be filled and for Chris Mason, he wouldn’t be surprised if Raymond Van Barneveld fills it.

Speaking to Online Darts, Mason said that he has to get through Q-School first but if he does, he sees him being picked.

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“If he gets a tour card I think they’ll put him in, and they’ll blame Sky of course,” said Mason to Online Darts.

“Everyone thinks I’m on a wind up. But TV and numbers are such a big thing now because there’s so many channels out there. And if you have great viewership, negotiating with big brands for advertising is huge.”

“He’s massive in the Netherlands. Of course RTL 7 are one of the broadcasters, and they do even bigger numbers than we do I think-on Sky at least.”

“I watched the media scramble around Barneveld and his announced return. The amount of sponsorship- he looked like a Formula One driver!”

“All of those deals will be based on him getting back on TV- otherwise they’re pointless.”

Mason despite that view has backed Barney to make his comeback albeit if his mindset does change.

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“I am 100% behind Barneveld’s comeback, but I don’t want to see any negativity, no shaking of the head, I don’t want to see that horrible attitude that he can’t be assed. If it did happen he’d be taking someone else’s opportunity.”

“Take the Eye of the Tiger, all that look, all that come ‘come on let’s have a fight’ and take it on stage. I don’t want to see it on the walk-on, I want to see it on the oche. I want to see you graft and grind.”