Steve Beaton has joined calls for the Premier League Darts format to be revamped following a succession of repeat matches between the sport’s leading players this year
Darts legend Steve Beaton believes the rivalry between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler is being diluted by the Premier League format. Since 2022, the tournament features quarter-finals, semis and a final on each of the 16 nights.
The top four points scorers then contest the play-offs on finals night at London’s O2 in late May. The format has meant regular meetings between the sport’s top players, like Littler and Humphries, the last two PDC world champions.
Critics have pointed out that it leads to too many repeat matches. Some want to see the Premier League revert to its former format of each player playing once per night, with a field of 10 or even 12.
Former BDO world champion Steve Beaton, who called time on his PDC career at the end of last year, is in that camp. He’s called for a shake-up ahead of the 2026 tournament.
He believes matches like Littler vs Humphries have lost their novelty value due to the amount of time they play each other. The pair met again in Aberdeen on Thursday night, with the Nuke winning a thrilling game 6-3 before losing in the semis to Chris Dobey.
“I think the Premier League could be changed a bit. It’s getting a bit boring now,” the 1996 Lakeside world champion told Online Darts. “I know they sell it out all the time.
“It was nice to see Luke and Luke play each other, but almost every week they’re playing each other. There’s too much of [the same] players playing each other. If that’s how they want to do it, that’s how they want to do it.”
Beaton fears the regularity of certain games is diminishing rivalries at the top of the sport. He continued: “You’ve seen them play that many times all year…
“[Before] they (the top players) met now and again, now they’re playing all the time. I don’t think it’s such a big thing when they do play each other.”
As for this year’s competition, Nathan Aspinall took a major step towards play-off qualification with victory in Aberdeen. Aspinall went into Thursday’s action one point adrift of Michael van Gerwen in fourth position, but the Stockport star produced a hat-trick of stellar displays to triumph in Scotland.
The 33-year-old recorded a crucial 6-3 victory over Van Gerwen in the evening’s opener, before defeating Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey to put himself in pole position for a top-four place.
Aspinall now leads Van Gerwen by four points ahead of the final night of league phase action in Sheffield, where the pair will meet again in the quarter-finals. The former World Matchplay champion can confirm his qualification with victory over Van Gerwen, while the Dutchman must clinch his first nightly win of the campaign to snatch a play-off place.