James Wade Hits Out at Premier League Darts Snub After World Masters Win

Darts veteran James Wade opened his account at the 2026 World Masters with a tightly fought 3-2 victory over Latvian qualifier Madars Razma.

While Wade’s attention will now turn to his progress in Milton Keynes, the main talking point after the match had little to do with the tournament itself.

Instead, Wade spoke candidly and emotionally about the recently announced 2026 Premier League Darts line-up, which begins in Newcastle next week, and his belief that he should have been included.

‘The Machine’ feels overlooked

Wade believes his omission from the invitational competition is difficult to justify based on performances alone.

“The Machine” believes that he should be in the tournament on merit.

“You keep knocking on the door and you get moments where I honestly believe I deserve to be in it, but would do you do?” Wade told SportsBoom.co.uk. 

Under the Premier League format, the top four players on the PDC Order of Merit qualify automatically, with the remaining four spots selected by the PDC in conjunction with Sky Sports. Wade feels that system is flawed.

The 23-year professional believes all eight places should be earned through results rather than invitation.

“It shouldn’t be a position where someone has to pick you. It should be where you do enough, and I believe I did enough. I did more than anyone else, apart from the top three or four.”

Wade entered the 2026 World Darts Championship as the seventh seed but has since slipped to world number 11 following a disappointing campaign at Alexandra Palace, where he was beaten by Ricky Evans in the second round.

Strong season backed by statistics

Despite his World Championship exit, Wade enjoyed an impressive year on the tour.

He reached two major finals — the UK Open and the World Matchplay — both considered flagship events on the PDC calendar, losing on each occasion to reigning world champion Luke Littler.

When ranking money is taken into account, Wade’s argument becomes even stronger. Excluding the World Championship, which saw Littler collect a record £1million after the prize fund increase, only three players earned more ranking prize money across the season, Littler, Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen. 

“There’s only three players that did better than me. Statistics, facts don’t like.”

‘I don’t fit the business model’

When asked why he believes he was overlooked, Wade suggested the decision went beyond darts performance and into commercial considerations.

Wade suffers from bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has spoken openly about his mental health throughout his career, something that has compounded the disappointment of missing out.

“I said to my wife, is it because I’m overweight? No, because there’s someone else that size. Is it because I’m old? No because there’s some else there. Is it because I’m not great looking? No, because there’s some others that are no so great looking.”

“It’s just obviously the way I am, I’m quite awkward as a character.”

Wade admitted the rejection has been particularly hard to process given his mental health struggles.

“It’s hard to chew when you have the condition I have. It’s a complete kick in the privates. It really knocks your confidence, knocks you for six, because there’s no apparent reason why I shouldn’t have been in.”

“As a business, I wasn’t in their business model, which is fair enough. But for someone with mental illness it’s hard to chew,” he concluded.