What do you think of the Premier League and it's format?

Kingp35

So now that the thsi years Premier League is over and the tournament is three years old, I want to know what you think of the tournament.

Originally when it started I thought it was a great tournamnet, darts would be on the TV every week and that has to be good. This year though I found that I got bored with the League pretty quickly. It's interesting for the first few weeks but then it just gets boring watchng the same 8 players play each other every week. Taylor always runs away with the League and this year we had a situation where the top 4 were basically through well before the League was over. We also have the situation where players will not give their all because they can lose games and still go through. I get the feeling that some of them are not too bothered because they will get their big pay day no matter where they finish. We end up with too many dead rubber matches which fail to catch the interest. There were very few edge of your sit matches in this years PL unlike other tournaments where you are playing to stay in the tournament.

The next point is the fans. No don't get me wrong, the Premier League has put darts on the map again with 1,000's of fans going each week but I get the impression that most are not darts fans at all but a bunch of beer drinkers who are there for the piss up. Take the World Championships. It's a terrific atmosphere but there is also great respect given to the players when they are throwing whereas in the PL we had occasions where Mexican Waves were going around while the players are playing. These people are not interested in the match but only having fun while being there.

I think the format has to be changed, It's basically a cash cow for the top players where originally it was supposed to benefit all players. The League gets boring after a few weeks and the Play-Off night has been very poor for the last three years.

What do you guys think? Is it fine the way it is or do you think some things need to be changed?

matty84

yeah good point i aggree with you there,i dont truely believe the best 8 players in the world contested the premier league this year the likes of scholten,llyold,lewis,and priestly(id leave manley in as hes a great showman:D ) although very good on there day just arnt consistent enough week in week out to give the likes of taylor, barney and even jenkins a real fright i reckon if you throw the likes of hamilton,wade,van gerwen,and maybe even john part in there you'd have a much more exciting close tournament,but the thing is them players have to earn there place in the worlds top8 to qualify !!

and as for last night the averages hardly speak for themselves
jenkins 85.77 V barneveld 89.75
priesley 89.20 V taylor 98.79

taylor 99.20 V jenkins 90.81


although taylors averages are quite impressive the rests are nothing to be proud of!

and i got the feeling that jenkins was just happy to reach the final instead of saying to himself ive got this far now, i can go on and win it!

although hats off to taylor wat a darting genius a model of consistency!

Kingp35

Yeah I agree that the top 8 were not in it and that made it less competitive. I think a League of Taylor, Barney, Lloyd, Van Gerwen, Wade, Hamilton, King and one other player would be the best but I still think it might get a little boring watching the same players all the time although it wouldn't be as bad if everyone could beat everyone else.

The format needs a look at I think. Players know they can lose games and still be ok and that makes the tournament less exciting for me. They need to think of some kimd of format where players can get knocked out throughout the tournament and not just at the end. That way they will have something to play and fight for every week.

rag2gar

I have big reservations with the format of the league. 17 weeks of play climaxes in a one night final? Thats pure madness I feel, I knew monday night was going to be a big anti-climax, what with the 3 week break after the league is over you lose the taste for it by the time the final comes after seeing it every thurs before that. I feel the league format should be shortened somewhat and the play-offs format extended to avoid this big anti-climax each year. Perhaps introducing relegation battles and plugging the grudge matchs more like taylor/mason and lewis/manley etc

The fans are quite bad having witnessed it first hand in sheffield for taylor/barney. They come for chase the sun and manleys entrance and thats about it. Although kingp35 is correct as it does make for a good atmosphere and noise levels.

Taylor is becoming somewhat of a michael schumacher however. Many F1 fans feel his success actually ruined the sport rather than benifited it. Lets hope the same doesnt happen with Dr. Phil

Kingp35

rag2gar wrote:

Taylor is becoming somewhat of a michael schumacher however. Many F1 fans feel his success actually ruined the sport rather than benifited it. Lets hope the same doesnt happen with Dr. Phil

Yeah I agree. It does take away from the Sport when you have one man dominating for so long. It's almost as if the other players are playing for second place. Barney has made it slightly more interesting but he still isn't on the same level as Taylor. It's Taylors consistancy that is so impressive. Also I get the feeling that most players are beaten before they even take the stage because they think they have no hope of winning. So many of the top players play average darts when they are against Taylor.

We have reached a point where Taylor is pretty much guaranteed to win the Premier League. A lot of the times I don't even bother watching his games, especially if he is on last, I just check later to see what score he has won by. It's not his fault but it does take away from the spectacle of the sport if the same man keeps on winning. Hopefully the likes of Van Gerwen, Lewis, Wade, Hamilton, McGowan and Bates can puch on and give Taylor a challenge. Sadly I can't se eit happening.