Premier League Darts: Time for a shake-up?
Lewis Watson 
Premier League Darts is over for another year, with Luke Humphries getting one over on world champions Luke Littler at the O2 last week.
Littler had been the favourite with betting sites going into the final having led the league standings for the majority of the season, but came up short in what proved to be a season that fizzled out somewhat.
Amid mounting criticism for the Premier League format, Free Bets resident darts expert, Lewis Watson, has considered the future of the format.
We have a new Premier League Darts champion: Luke Humphries.
After losing to world champion Littler in last year's final, "Cool Hand" Humphries triumphed 11-8 in the repeat as the world's top two slugged it out at O2 Arena. But it was the world number one that emerged victorious, adding another trophy to his growing collection and winning the latest battle between the two Lukes who are expected to dominate the sport over the next few years.
"That one means the world to me. It's the one I was missing," Humphries told Sky Sports following his win last Thursday. "I said in all my pre-match build-up the last few days that it was the one I wanted. I've done it now. If I don't win another title I will be happy, because I've won the three hardest ones now."
Humphries finished second to Littler in the league standings ahead of Thursday's playoffs, and the long drawn-out 17 weeks of action has faced fresh criticism this season with many fans turning their back on the Thursday night event.
The world number 8, Damon Heta, expressed his concerns about the format in a recent interview with Sporting Life. "I didn't really watch any of it this season," the Australian explained. "It's the same players each week playing in the same matches and it's all a bit much. Maybe it needs a shake-up. I used to like the relegation aspect to it as players are playing to stay in it."
This new format where players play a quarter-final, semi-final and final each week has been in place for four seasons now, and with the removal of a draw as a possible outcome, the league format appears to have lost its edge.
The length of the tournament has clearly impacted the runner-up and world champion, Littler.
"I had a little bit of a thing after the game - nobody likes losing - but I'm fine," Littler told Sky Sports. "I am glad to say the Premier League is over - it's been a tough 17 weeks. Happy it's over, and I came runner-up, but I will be back next year."
Perhaps the Premier League Darts is suffering from too much of a good thing. Fans tune into sport to witness triumph and jeopardy, and recent grumblings about the Thursday night event appears to focus around the predictability and lack of peril from week-to-week.
The performances of Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey and Rob Cross haven't helped this season's competitiveness. These three players combined to win just 24 of their 70 matches, with Luke Littler scoring more points than the three of them combined.
The solution isn't clear, but from the outside it feels like there is a demand for more variety and more jeopardy during the Premier League Darts season. The "contenders" and "challengers" in the 2019 and 2020 seasons added that little sprinkle of change, but Barry Hearn and the PDC should be looking at a complete overhaul before the Premier League Darts season is seen as a stale four months of the season.
