As the 2026 darts season reaches its business end, the battle for a 2027 Premier League spot is heating up, and Ross Smith has thrown down a serious gauntlet. With the format for next year still ambiguous, the field could expand to 10 players, moving away from the eight-player format used since 2022. While not confirmed, changes could be on the horizon after a second consecutive year with Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price at the O2. Smith, who has won the World Series of Darts Finals and the European Championship on television this year, plus four other titles, has proven he can beat the best and may force the PDC's hand.
Stephen Bunting, despite finishing fifth last year, finds himself under pressure after a lacklustre 2026 campaign. The popular figure has fallen to World Number 14, his lowest position in two years, and now sits below Smith in the PDC Order of Merit. Bunting's Premier League campaign saw him finish on 18 points, level with Michael van Gerwen and Gian van Veen, while Josh Rock propped up the table with 8. Van Veen has secured his place in the top 4, but Van Gerwen's form has spiralled, losing in the first round of the World Grand Prix and failing to reach a quarter-final at any major this year. Rock, meanwhile, has failed to win his maiden singles major but possesses Premier League-tailored qualities like big moments and a large personality, exemplified by his heroic Belfast nine-darter. With James Wade just missing out last year, he takes the first spot, but Smith will be in contention, and given how close it was last year—Bunting received a call just 10 minutes before the announcement—this could be a similar story.
In 2026, Smith's statistics dwarf Bunting's. Smith has won 87 matches and lost 40 for a 68.5% win rate, compared to Bunting's 69-53 (56.6%). Smith's mean match average is 96.33 to Bunting's 95.60, and he has hit 36 matches averaging 100+ versus Bunting's 32. Smith has won six titles to Bunting's zero (plus two Premier League nights), and his 2026 ranking money stands at £446,000 compared to Bunting's £193,000. Against Premier League players outside the league, Smith holds a 9-8 record, while Bunting is 1-8. Smith's checkout rate in the last three months is 45.56%, and when his opponent is on a double, it rises to 53.04%. In deciding legs, he has won 15 of 24. Smith's finals include wins at Players Championship 5 (8-2 vs Chris Dobey, 104.24 average), European Tour 7 (8-3 vs Ryan Searle, 90.81), Players Championship 20 (8-5 vs William O'Connor, 107.01), European Tour 11 (8-2 vs Gary Anderson, 101.01), World Series of Darts Finals (11-5 vs Gerwyn Price, 103.89), and European Championships (11-8 vs Martin Schindler, 92.92), with runner-up finishes at European Tour 5 (6-8 vs Price) and European Tour 13 (4-8 vs Wade).
Bunting's case, however, rests on his Premier League performances and commercial appeal. In the 2026 Premier League, he averaged 98.49, fourth of the eight players, just 0.02 behind Gerwyn Price and ahead of Jonny Clayton, Van Gerwen, and Van Veen. He beat every one of his seven opponents at least once, with best nights averaging 106.63, 106.09, and 106.37 on his way to two nightly titles. His 34.98% checkout was the lowest in the league, and three 6-5 defeats (twice to Price, once to Clayton) show how close he came to a higher finish. Off the Thursday-night stage, his average has dropped from 99.14 to 93.42 over the last eighteen months, his first nine from 109.93 to 100.26, and his deciding leg average from 106.36 to 91.01. His functional doubles have improved from 44.60% to 48.21%, but he isn't getting to the double as often. He reached the Players Championship 3 final and semi-finals at Players Championships 15 and 22, averaging 104.04 in the latter, but has no ranking title to show for it. Commercially, Bunting boasts platforms exceeding 100,000 followers, a popular walk-on, and merchandise like plushies and bucket hats, making him a fan favourite. Smith, by contrast, has an aggressive but far-from-infectious stage presence, similar to Chris Dobey.
Smith's rise has been built on capitalising in big games. Winning his maiden European Tour got the monkey off his back, and since then he has averaged 96.33 with a 100+ average in 36 games. He beat Price 11-5 in the World Series of Darts Finals final, reeling off six straight legs, and five weeks later beat him again 11-7 in the European Championship semi-final before lifting the title in Dortmund for the second time. Bunting's numbers tell a more complicated story, and the Premier League is where his case is strongest. He averaged 98.49 across the campaign, sat fourth of the eight players, and beat every opponent at least once. But the decline off the stage is hard to ignore. In February, Bunting admitted, "I had a great start to the year, not the best end to the year, so I can understand why people were saying I shouldn't be in." Eight months later, the same sentence could be written about 2026, and this time he has no top-four ranking to fall back on. Smith, meanwhile, told Online Darts in September, "If you look at the year-to-date in the rankings, I think I'm sitting fourth or something like that. If you're sitting in the top four of the year-to-date, you're doing well." He added, "I'm not going to sit here and lie. Of course, I want to be in it. If you give me the opportunity, I'm going to grab it with both hands … I think I'm ready, but that's not up to me, is it?"
With Wade first in line, the question is whether there is room for one more, and on 2026 form, Smith has earned it. Ahead on win rate, titles, prize money, 100-plus averages, and results against Premier League opposition, Smith has done everything a player outside the eight can do. He knows how quickly the chance could pass him by. "It's a short career, and I can quickly find myself out of this squad if I'm not careful," he told Online Darts in September. "So yeah, that's my mindset, I need to be in the Premier League." Bunting's case rests on what he brings rather than what he has won: the walk-on, the fan base, and a Premier League record better than fifth place suggests. In February, Bunting called his selection "relief", adding, "I know that I need to work hard again this year to make sure I'm in it next year." He did work hard, and on Thursday nights it showed, but Smith did more everywhere else. If the field grows to ten, there is room for both, and the PDC gets the fan favourite and the in-form contender. If it stays at eight, six titles, two of them won on television in the last six weeks, should beat the man from St Helen, and Bunting could find out about his fate ten minutes before the announcement once again, this time with a very different outcome.
