I won’t be there — though Brad and friends of the newsletter will be! — but this week will mark the annual return to New York City for the best players on the PDC tour as part of their Darts Masters barnstorming series.
As such, we figured we’d bring back America’s favorite recurring segment, WHY HAS GOD CURSED US WITH THE THIRST FOR THIS KNOWLEDGE?: US DARTS MASTERS EDITION:
NICK BOND This week is, outside of the start of the PLL season, maybe your favorite one on the calendar: The return of the PDC to America for their annual US Darts Masters tournament.
It's exciting to you for two reasons, one recurring and another, more recent, development:
You're a huge fan of darts and go to see it live and in person basically every year
You are child free for the two nights for the first time in like six months
Which are you more hyped about?
BRAD HILL Oh boy. That’s a tough one, though I’d have to go with the first choice. I have gone every year since the event moved to MSG, and it has always been a great opportunity to get people together and introduce some new folks to the game.
NICK And for those that are unaware, can you give us a brief explanation of what exactly the Darts Masters series is, what happens these two days specifically and why that makes it the perfect way to turn the people into fans of the sport?
BRAD This weekend consists of two tournaments - the US Darts Masters and the North American Championship. The first night is the first round US Darts Masters consists of eight of the PDC’s top players matched up against either an American or Canadian player.
Those same eight American and/or Canadian players will then face off the following afternoon in the North American Championship (which is exactly what it sounds like). The winner of this tournament (with some occasional exceptions that don’t apply this year) earns a spot in the PDC Grand Slam and PDC World Championship.
That night will see the completion of the US Darts Masters with the quarterfinals, semifinals, and final. So overall, this weekend has a little bit of everything - big name stars, local players, and big opportunities.
NICK Is there the same issue there was a few years ago with the North American tournament where depending on the winner, they may not be able to technically qualify for the Worlds or the Grand Slam (because they were a second year card holder)?
BRAD I don't believe so. Since the only tour card participant is in the first year of his tour card, he is still able to qualify via the North American championship
NICK Speaking of which, who exactly is competing at this thing?
BRAD Some of the usual names and several new ones, including one truly great name on the North American side.
PDC Qualifiers | NA Qualifiers |
|---|---|
🏴 Luke Littler | PDC Tour Card holder 🇨🇦 Jim Long |
No MvG, most notably, on the PDC side.
NICK He probably wants to spend time with his kids, now that he's a family man. For the Americans/Canadians, are there any players that look like they could make a run to the finals or at least the second day of play?
BRAD It's difficult to say for sure, because usually at least one North American does make it to the second day but who it is changes every year. However, the two names that stick out are Canadian Jim Long, the lone North American PDC Tour Card holder and American Alex Spellman, who is arguably the best North American player but has been extremely unlucky in PDC Q-School. There’s also another American, Adam Sevada, who is a consistent player on the CDC Tour (PDC's North American satellite tour).
NICK Doesn't help that there's no Stowe Buntz this year, who in addition to playing pretty well at the World Cup -- along with Sevada -- also stayed at the same hotel as us the year I went to the tournament.
BRAD I'm also a silly bitch for not mentioning that Adam Sevada made up half of Team USA at this year's PDC World Cup of Darts.
NICK It's fine, they broke our hearts and deserve our scorn. Relatedly, it feels like US/Canadian darts is not in a particularly strong place right now, at least relative to where they were over the past few years.
Is that something you feel like ebbs and flows or do you think that between the proliferation of darting academies in Europe since Littler hit the scene and some of our best players getting older, that this is something we should be concerned about?
A related question: Would you like to start a darting academy?
BRAD If only sports academies were part of the culture in America like they are in Europe (and not the pay-to-play model we have with every sport)!
NICK I mostly just want a safe place for our daughters to throw sharp sticks at circles made of grass. And also because I am tired of hearing, "This child is way too young to be in this bar, also it's 2AM". Like, sorry Mr. Policeman, I thought this was America.
Are you interested in the idea that the PDC is going to be moving to MSG proper next year or extremely skeptical that they will be able to sell enough tickets to make that happen?
BRAD Does a third option exist? My true feeling is that the PDC doesn't actually realize what that would entail. Do they expect to sell out the arena? Even if they cutoff one end for the stage, you're still talking at least 15,000 seats - which is a big jump to approximately 4,000 seats in the MSG theater. My guess is that is does not actually move.
I also think keeping the environment intimate is more important than being able to say you're playing in the arena itself.
NICK Yeah, my assumption is that they think it'll be like the Premier League, where they are able to fill several of the arenas in Europe around that size, but that's over there, where darts is significantly more popular than it is here (though we obviously have a metric shitton more people). I think if there was any year where they would have been more likely than just "it's possible" to put up (drink) WWE numbers there, it would have been this year. With so many people from England, Scotland and the Netherlands (among other places that like darts) in the US for the World Cup, it would have been the perfect captive audience to try it and maybe build off of it for next year.
But, instead, they are having it a day early to accommodate the World Cup -- just as much for the people from "out of town" that are coming to watch it as for the players who aren't going to miss England play in a World Cup match, even if their livelihood depended on it -- and keeping it in the theater.
BRAD And let's not forget the absolute shitshow that Penn Station will be during the England match at MetLife
NICK Thankfully, that's not anywhere close to where this tournament will be!
So, I have one final question before I let you go get ready for tonight's pregaming tournament: Would you mind picking me up a (beer-only) souvenir cup while you're there?
BRAD Oh you can bet your ass I will. I'll be getting a few of them to add to my collection
NICK And they say kids change you.
THE WIDE WORLD OF OBSCURE SPORTS
Although PGA tour golf isn’t exactly an obscure sports — though a decrease in dads being made every day could lead to a big enough shortage of potential fans that it could happen — we are always in the business of format changes to even the most major of leagues in this space. Especially when those changes involved promotion and relegation. And that’s exactly what’s going on with the PGA in 2028.
A kind of weird, but also reassuring, reminder that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi — maybe the best cricket batter in the world right now — is still a literal actual child came through the wires this week, as it has been reported that because he is under the age of 17, he will get an entirely separate locker room from the rest of his Test cricket teammates when India visits the UK for their upcoming series.
He’s not the first high profile athlete to have this accommodation made for him in the UK recently, as Arsenal’s 16-year-old wunderkind Max Dowman had similar set up for games with the senior squad. It may seem silly, but from a privacy, safety and maturity standpoint, these kinds of measures are very much in the best interests of the young man and women they are designed to protect.
BRAD’S SMASH OR PASS
A carefully curated list of what Brad’s going to be watching (and not watching… maybe, he has a lot of screens at his disposal) through next Wednesday.
Thursday, June 25th
SMASH
🍁🏈
Canadian Football League: Winnipeg Blue Bombers v. Edmonton Elks
CBS SN/CFL+ | 20:30 ET
A Thursday Night Football™ match up between the two worst teams in last season’s Western Division. Hilariously, one of them still made the playoffs due to the CFL’s “cross-over” rule (the Eastern Division was really just THAT bad). A CFL game in the summer is truly a guilty pleasure of mine. Go track down a six-pack of Molson or Labatt and start your weekend off early.PASS
🚺⚽️🇨🇦
Northern Super League: Montreal Roses vs. Ottawa Rapid
ESPN+ | 18:55 ET
Normally, I’d be excited for a match-up between the two best teams in any league for basically any sport, but given that the US are in the World Cup against our neighbors to the north, this unfortunately falls under my strict ban on rooting for non-American soccer players for the next month.
Friday, June 26th
SMASH
🎯🇨🇦🇺🇸🏆
PDC: North American Championship
PDC.TV | 13:00 ET
Alongside the US Darts Masters on Thursday and Friday night, we have the North American Championship on Friday afternoon. This tournament sees the top American and Canadian players face-off in a bracket format to determine the champion of North America. In addition to the prestige of the title (and prize money that comes along with it,) the winner will also earn a spot in two of the PDC’s biggest tournaments - the Grand Slam and World Championship. Which means there is arguably more on the line in this tournament than there is in the US Darts Masters finals later that night (which might not even include a North American player to begin with).PASS
🚺🏏🌐🏆
T20 Women’s World Cup: Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 v. Scotland 🏴
Willow | 13:30 ET
As a father of a daughter, brother to a sister and son to a mother, I swear we’re not picking on women’s sports by passing on several of them this week. This choice is specifically about ridiculing the Scottish for their poor performances in both World Cups, as well as their love of everything deep fried, including their sports teams. On a related note: The first meal I had in 2020 was haggis, while in Scotland, and the rest of the year went uphill from there.
Saturday, June 27th
SMASH
🦘🏈
AFL: Port Adelaide v. Adelaide
Fox Soccer Plus | 05:35 ET
Start your Saturday morning off right with an Adelaide cross-town rivalry. Port Adelaide find themselves in 15th after several close losses on the season. The results have been a bit harsh, but with the AFL’s expanded playoff format, a win against their big rivals would put them right back into the mix. Set the timer on the coffee maker and get yourself up early for this one. There isn’t much competing for your attention this hour except a replay of a Savannah Bananas game, probably.PASS
🚹🏀🇳🇿
NBLNZ: Whai vs. Franklin Bulls
ESPN+ | 03:00 ET
This game might be on too early, even for me. And while I will always pick an Australian over a Kiwi if I’m choosing between groups of criminals shipped over from England, this is extra true for Aussie rules over basketball.
Sunday, June 28th
SMASH
🏸🇺🇸🏆
BWF World Tour: US Open 2026
YouTube | 15:00 ET
This one checks every single box as far as what I am looking for with an obscure sport - (1) something that I don’t fully understand the rules, (2) a piss poor organizational website, (3) free streaming on YouTube. Don’t act like you aren’t the least bit curious. Could badminton be the new sport for Summer 2026? (No, it will still be cricket).PASS
🚹🥍
PLL: Philadelphia Waterdogs vs. Utah Archers
ESPN+ | 16:00 ET
For me to pass on a lacrosse game, it basically has to be bad and also potentially very boring, which would definitely describe this game. The Waterdogs, in addition to one of the dumbest proper (Editor’s note: By “proper,” he means “plural”) team names in sports, also have one of the worst offenses in the PLL with just 46 points scored this season and are tied for the lowest point differential in the league at -7. The Archers aren’t that far ahead of them in either category (49 points scored, 3rd worst point differential at +2), while also being the worst team in the Western conference. I might still watch it, because it’s lacrosse, but it’ll definitely be put on the iPad.
Monday, June 29th
SMASH
🏓🇺🇸💥
World Table Tennis: United States Smash 2026
ESPN+ | 15:00 ET
The first day of Wimbledon is upon us and summer is officially underway! What better way to celebrate than by watching a weird version of tennis played indoors? Similar to badminton, my curiosity is what is really driving me towards this. Plus as a big Forrest Gump fan, this is a game that deserves the highest of respect. Start your day off by watching Wimbledon and once your eyes get tired of darting back and forth to follow the ball, switch on over to the United States Smash! I can only imagine this is like the arena football equivalent of the NFL.PASS
📺🚔
Reruns: Blue Bloods
ION | 15:00 ET
There are basically no sporting events happening even around the same time outside the beginning of the FIFA World Cup knockout round, which could be any combination of Morocco or Brazil vs. Japan or the Netherlands, matchups interesting enough that I’ll be watching through a “second screen experience” at worst. So for this one I’ll go with “literally whatever else is on TV” and, even while on parental leave, there’s nothing that would lead me to watch Blue Bloods. Not after they forced Magnum PI to put on long pants to become Commissioner for the NYPD.
Tuesday, June 30th
SMASH
🚺🏏🌐🏆
Women’s T20 World Cup: Semifinal #1
WILLOW | 09:30 ET
Although we do not yet know the teams that will be playing in this match, the first semifinal will see the winner of Group A take on the runner-up in Group B, so my guess is Australia v. West Indies (although this is all depending on the England v. West Indies result on June 24th). If this match does get rained out, it will be played on Wednesday, July 1st. This will lead perfectly into the FIFA World Cup tripleheader as well.PASS
🚺🎳🇺🇸🏆
Go Bowling U.S Women's Open:
CBS Sports Network/Paramount+ | 10:00 ET
So, I might actually watch this one if there is a rainout in England, as that is way less likely to happen during this tournament. I don’t know that much about bowling, men’s or women’s, but that hasn’t stopped me from getting way too into a sporting event before and I’m not going to start thinking this stuff through now.
Wednesday, July 1st
SMASH
🚹⚽️🇺🇸🥉
USL League One | Chattanooga Red Wolves v. Westchester SC,
ESPN+ | 19:00 ET
I am probably a bit biased here giving Westchester the pick, however they have won half of their 14 points on the season in the last three games and may actually be pushing for a playoff spot (which is not at all what I expected before the season). This is the perfect transition into the US knockout match at 20:00, so get a second screen or just watch the first half, I guess.PASS
🦞🎓⚾️
NECBL | Keene Swamp Bats v. North Shore Navigators
ESPN+ | 18:30 ET
Normally, I’d be all for a New England Collegiate Baseball League game to watch on a Wednesday night, but it feels disrespectful to have this game going on in the same general timeframe as America’s real pastime: rooting against foreigners.