"Are they going to give up their jobs? Are they going to take a gamble on winning?" - Ian White has concerns over plan for midweek Players Championships in 2024
PDC
For 'Diamond' Ian White, 2023 has not been a sparkling year. The 13-time ranking event winner has slipped drastically of late and currently sits 56th in the latest PDC Order of Merit.
"It's been a bit up and down," White reflects on his year in conversation with Online Darts. Looking ahead though, the 53-year-old Englishman is remaining optimistic. "Hopefully, towards the World Championships, we be back on form."
A big change coming to the PDC calendar in 2024 is the fact that all Players Championship events will be midweek, rather than over the weekend. It's a decision that has caused some contention and although White himself has no issue with it, he can see why it could be problematic for some.
"I don't mind it. It doesn't matter when we play for me, it's just how frequently. I want them every week," White explains. "At the moment your playing either one a month or a block of five and that doesn't suit me. At least then if you had a bad one you'd only have to wait until next weekend. That's my opinion but we have to go with what they say."
"We'll have to wait and see how it goes because if you move it to during the week, how many people are going to lose their jobs?" White continues. "There's a lot of people out there with families. Are they going to give their jobs up? Are they going to take a gamble on winning? There's a lot of pressure on them then."
"It's a hard decision. At the moment, people can get around it. Work during the week, darts on weekends. But next year I just don't know what's going to happen. You might lose certain players. If they're earning £40,000 a year in a job that's guaranteed, with a family and a mortgage that's totally different."
The problem is that the product that sells (the dart players) have to compete with each other for their wages whereas the Administration (the PDC) does not. Yes they do have to go out and get the sponsorship etc but the lower levels of admin are payed a regular weekly wage (referee’s for example). There needs a balance where the lower ranked players get to at least balance their books. Without a depth of field there is no long term future yet that field has to earn its position on merit so its a tough act to balance.
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