Luke Littler shot down as darts chief makes decision on Premier League rule change

Luke Littler has been calling for major changes to the Premier League format, but those pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The teenager recently won this year's tournament, beating Luke Humphries in a nail-biting final at the O2 Arena in London. He edged a last-leg decider to defeat his rival and get his hands on the trophy for the second time in three years.

The current format has been used since 2022 and sees eight players compete in mini knockout tournaments each Thursday, with the top four at the end of the regular season qualifying for the play-offs. Littler, however, wants to see the return of the older 10-player format, which was last used in 2021.

Under that structure, every player competed in one match each night before the bottom two were eliminated on week nine. The remaining eight stars then battled for the four play-off places.

Speaking at the end of last month, Littler said: "I’d like to see a change. I’d like to play in a Premier League where it’s just one game a night.

"Get an extra two players in, get a judgement night back in as well, because that’s what I grew up watching. It was very, very interesting to see obviously two Premier League players go with your 10th and 9th and then the other eight can battle it out."

The current Premier League format is often criticised for being repetitive, with the same top players often facing each other on a weekly basis. Littler and Humphries, for example, met nine times in total during the 2026 tournament.

However, it seems the reigning world champion won't be getting his wish any time soon, with PDC supremo Barry Hearn insisting the existing format is here to stay.

Speaking to HLN, he said: "Every year we conduct an evaluation and that will happen again this year. But if something isn't broken, you shouldn't fix it.

"This year we have sold 98.2 per cent of all tickets. That is amazing. You always have one or two empty seats. Darts has become so big.

"Last year, the World Championship was sold out after just 15 minutes, faster than Glastonbury Festival. Yes, there will be further changes. The Premier League might change someday, but let us evaluate first, in silence."

It comes after PDC chief executive Matt Porter suggested that he was open to reviewing the current format, saying: "Obviously, you are never going to please everybody with everything that you do.

"I think whilst people are talking about it that shows they care and we can’t ask much more than that. We’ve had it for four years, we wouldn’t have it for eight years.

"So, if you look at the life cycle of it then it will certainly be in that part than the ascendency. You are never going to pick something that will please everyone, but we will always look at what we can do."

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