PDC Premier League 2019

[Skewball]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

[thecat]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

Goodness only knows why the league is considered part of the triple crown, surely it’s Worlds, matchplay and Grand Prix

[Ginge]

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

[Mensur Suljovic Fan]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

Goodness only knows why the league is considered part of the triple crown, surely it’s Worlds, matchplay and Grand Prix

Agreed, although the Slam, Open and Premier League are not a million miles behind for me

[Moongoose McQueeen]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

Goodness only knows why the league is considered part of the triple crown, surely it’s Worlds, matchplay and Grand Prix

I'd stick the Grand Slam in instead of the Prix

[1205]

To be fair, in the pantheon of meaningless PDC events, the Premier League is far from the #1, yes it's a gimmick, yes it can be boring at times, but it's also a greater challenge than most events, and the players sure as hell want to be involved

of course they want to be involved....thats not my point.

Its major money, major exposure etc
but no matter how you spin it, its a non ranking exbo that is mainly only for a way for the PDC to generate income and I get that, but it is not what I consider a major as other proper majors like the worlds, Grand Prix, Matchplay and UK Open are.

I definitely have the Premier League higher than, say, the Euros even though that's ranked, and have it roughly on a par with the UK Open or the Players Championship finals

Unranked tournaments like the Premier League and World Series are exhibitions. It's money, and players might want to do well against the other top players, but losses aren't going to have them sweating like losses in a ranking tournament.

You say that, but it's ruined more than one player in the past. No doubt the financial side of things is a big deal for them, but I'm sure the likes of Mardle and Webster were sweating like fek when they were struggling along in the Premier League. Plus you have players like Barney and (until recently) Gando, who, rightly or wrongly, always seemed to be able to raise their game for the Premier League too

If players like Mardle and Webster were worried it was because their games were falling apart and their rankings were going down the toilet. Van Barneveld is retiring after this year for the same reason.

Suljovic and Price were the players eliminated first last year. Oh woe were them.

[ChrisW]

Most bookies offering round 3-1 for a Dobey win over Sully.

[Skewball]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

Nope they just want to win it as it offers more money than the majority of the other actual majors.

Nope, the reasons are irrelevant.

If Anyone thinks a player would rather win the Grand Prix vs the PL they need to give their head a shake.

[ssjsa]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

Nope they just want to win it as it offers more money than the majority of the other actual majors.

Nope, the reasons are irrelevant.

If Anyone thinks a player would rather win the Grand Prix vs the PL they need to give their head a shake.

Skewball 100% right as far as I am concerned. Three biggest tournaments, and best Majors by a country mile, are the WC, Matchplay and the PL.

[Zeyes]

The PL is a major. One of the triple crown if you like. In the same way as the Masters is in Snooker.
Not that I watch it particularly , but that's how it's perceived in the game amongst the players. Definitely one they want to win alongside the Worlds and matchplay

Nope they just want to win it as it offers more money than the majority of the other actual majors.

Nope, the reasons are irrelevant.

If Anyone thinks a player would rather win the Grand Prix vs the PL they need to give their head a shake.

Any player who is in danger of dropping out of the top 16/trying to get into it would much rather win the Grand Prix than the PL.

That might have been the silliest moving of goalposts I've seen around here since ifm's departure.

[Zeyes]

How exactly the PL is a non ranking event and essentially a big long exhibition tour many many players would prefer to win an actual ranking event as it would offer them greater benefits going forward in their career.

Your entire argument against the PL's status is that players only want to win it because of £££, not because it has prestige on its own (where apparently you're the sole arbiter of how that prestige is measured). So when somebody says that the Grand Prix isn't all it's cracked up to be, your refutation is...that the Grand Prix will be more relevant to players who are in urgent need of £££ not just for their next sportscar, but also for their ranking? Oookay. That doesn't seem very prestige-affirming if the best you can say in favour of the tournament is that it's all about the paycheck there, too, just for a different reason. But I guess it makes sense in your mind, somehow.

[Zeyes]

Well, here's a potential reason: Do any players not named Brendan Dolan actually like the Grand Prix tournament format all that much? I don't really recall its praises being sung by the only people who matter for "prestige" determinations.

[Zeyes]

None of which are at all relevant for how much prestige players attach to competing in it and winning it. You're really grasping at straws here.

[Zeyes]

To summarize:

The Grand Prix location is nothing special (unlike the Matchplay), the audience is not exactly known for creating a great atmosphere (unlike the Matchplay), the tournament format doesn't appear to be all that well-liked by the players (unlike the...World Cup!) - yeah, how could people possibly get the idea that the tournament doesn't have any particular cachet beyond the fact that it exists and a sizable bunch of prize money is to be won at it? Kind of like...the Premier League. Except that players have actually made a point of saying that winning the Premier League is a goal of theirs.

The Grand Prix is normal darts with extra randomness added to it for entertainment purposes. That's it. It's not some kind of must-win grueling test of darting prowess that separates the men from the boys.

[Skewball]

Well, here's a potential reason: Do any players not named Brendan Dolan actually like the Grand Prix tournament format all that much? I don't really recall its praises being sung by the only people who matter for "prestige" determinations.

The Grand Prix has a meritocratic qualification system and is a ranking event neither of which the PL has.

The Grand Prix also has a longer history than the PL. in fact it’s third only behind the worlds and Matchplay in terms of active TV majors.

Your going round in circles.

The PL is easily the third biggest darts tournament, which ever way you measure it.
Sky, pdc, players, sponsors, bookies, 3k fans every week all agree.

But hey, you think the Grand Prix is bigger just because its a ranking event, so be it.

[Zeyes]

But hey, you think the Grand Prix is bigger just because its a ranking event, so be it.

Heads would explode if the PDC ever decided to make the Grand Prix non-ranking because it doesn't fit in with the 501 SIDO nature of the rest of the ranking tournament calendar.

[ChrisW]

What a riveting argument.

Any odds available for Duzza's match yet?

[thelad1985]

glenn will beat gurney no problem - gurney is a lakeside failure who sky signed up of the market and turned into a premier league star - glenn is 3x world champion - the best player this decade if you ask me - top 3 this century with wolf and taylor -

robson

[Mensur Suljovic Fan]

How exactly the PL is a non ranking event and essentially a big long exhibition tour many many players would prefer to win an actual ranking event as it would offer them greater benefits going forward in their career.

Your entire argument against the PL's status is that players only want to win it because of £££, not because it has prestige on its own (where apparently you're the sole arbiter of how that prestige is measured). So when somebody says that the Grand Prix isn't all it's cracked up to be, your refutation is...that the Grand Prix will be more relevant to players who are in urgent need of £££ not just for their next sportscar, but also for their ranking? Oookay. That doesn't seem very prestige-affirming if the best you can say in favour of the tournament is that it's all about the paycheck there, too, just for a different reason. But I guess it makes sense in your mind, somehow.

Nobody has offered any reason as to why the PL is a more prestigious major than the line of Grand Slam or the Grand Prix.

I would be intrested to hear why anyone thinks it is more prestigious but as yet nobody has offerd why.

I can only assume they buy the Sky hype around it or think that the Prize money is the be all and end all of dart tournaments rankings. Which this year more than any other has shown to be bollocks as I’m yet to hear anyone claim is a bigger event than the Matchplay which offer less money to the winner.

You can fluke your way to a run in a knockout tournament, but you sure as hell can't do that in the Premier League. Fuck, they could have replaced Anderson with Eddie Dootson and it would still be 8 of the best 10 players playing on a regular basis, whoever gets to the semis/final would still richly deserve it

[Mensur Suljovic Fan]

Well, here's a potential reason: Do any players not named Brendan Dolan actually like the Grand Prix tournament format all that much? I don't really recall its praises being sung by the only people who matter for "prestige" determinations.

The Grand Prix has a meritocratic qualification system and is a ranking event neither of which the PL has.

The Grand Prix also has a longer history than the PL. in fact it’s third only behind the worlds and Matchplay in terms of active TV majors.

To be fair, the Grand Prix used to have two Irish qualifiers who rarely did much, at least Barney these days is still capable of moments of brilliance in flashes. The Worlds is also far from perfectly meritocratic, yet you don't seem to be moaning nearly as much about that than the Premier League. For me, the only real reason the Premier League isn't as prestigious as the big majors is the format, it's arguably one of the biggest challenges in the sport to get to finals day, but once you're there, it's only best of 19/21. As great an achievement it is to beat the best of the best over that format, it's even greater to beat them in Worlds/Matchplay/Grand Prix/Slam final