The final night of league phase action in the 2026 BetMGM Premier League Darts takes place at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield on Thursday, with Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price battling to decide third and fourth place ahead of Finals Night.

Night Sixteen brings the darting roadshow to the Steel City on Thursday, May 21, as reigning champion Humphries looks to build on his first nightly win of the campaign in Birmingham last week.

Finals Night Line-Up Already Confirmed

The four players heading to The O2 in London for next week’s Finals Night are already confirmed.

• Luke Littler
• Jonny Clayton
• Gerwyn Price
• Luke Humphries

Littler has sealed top spot after a remarkable campaign that has already brought six nightly wins, while Clayton will finish second after claiming four nightly titles of his own.

However, there is still one key race to settle. Price and Humphries are level on 24 points, with Price currently third due to his greater number of nightly wins.

Humphries Finding Form At The Perfect Time

Humphries arrives in Sheffield in excellent form. He won Night Fifteen in Birmingham, producing averages of 107 and 111 in victories over Stephen Bunting and Luke Littler before defeating Price in the final.

He followed that up by winning Players Championship Seventeen in Leicester on Monday, averaging a superb 104.74 across the tournament.

“It would have hurt me a lot if I didn’t make Finals Night,” said Humphries.

“When it clicks for me, it clicks for me. When it does, I think people see I’m one of the best players in the world.”

The world number two faces Michael van Gerwen in his Sheffield quarter-final, with Van Gerwen now playing for pride after seeing his qualification hopes ended by Humphries last week.

Price Faces Van Veen In Key Quarter-Final

Price opens his Night Sixteen campaign against Dutch number one Gian van Veen.

The Welshman is aiming to secure third place ahead of Finals Night and add momentum to earlier nightly victories in Antwerp and Manchester.

Van Veen, meanwhile, can no longer qualify for The O2, but the 24-year-old will be desperate to end his debut-style campaign with a first nightly victory.

Littler Chasing Premier League History

Luke Littler has already guaranteed top spot and now has the chance to make Premier League history.

The Warrington star can become the first player to win seven nightly titles since the current format was introduced.

Littler faces Josh Rock in his quarter-final. Rock has improved in the second half of the season, but he is still chasing a first win over Littler after losing their previous eight meetings.

Clayton Looks To Sharpen Up Before Finals Night

Jonny Clayton takes on Stephen Bunting in the opening quarter-final.

Clayton has enjoyed an outstanding league campaign and will finish second regardless of what happens in Sheffield, but he will want to return to winning ways before heading to The O2.

Bunting sits seventh in the table, but a second nightly win of the season could still lift him as high as fifth.

Premier League Table Before Night Sixteen

Night Sixteen Fixtures

2026 BetMGM Premier League Darts
Night Sixteen
Venue: Utilita Arena, Sheffield
Date: Thursday, May 21

Quarter-Finals

• Jonny Clayton v Stephen Bunting
• Gerwyn Price v Gian van Veen
• Luke Littler v Josh Rock
• Luke Humphries v Michael van Gerwen

Semi-Finals

• Clayton/Bunting v Price/Van Veen
• Littler/Rock v Humphries/Van Gerwen

Final

All matches are best of 11 legs.

How To Watch

The 2026 BetMGM Premier League is live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland. It is also available through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV for Rest of the World subscribers outside the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

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Most teams don’t search for a general manager in the middle of May, but the Minnesota Vikings are doing precisely that in 2026. And according to credible reporting, the team’s shortlist of options is down to five men,

Minnesota could have its next general manager in place before June.

The Vikings should announce the answer soon. The field has narrowed.

Minnesota’s Shortlist Includes Several Up-and-Comers

Who’s your GM pick for the purple team?

Search Down to Five

The process has taken a next step. NBC Sports‘ Josh Alper wrote Wednesday, “Vikings owner Mark Wilf said on Tuesday that the team is ready to move on to a second round of General Manager interviews and the team has reportedly picked five candidates to continue in the search process.”

“Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that they want to have second meetings with their executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, Broncos assistant GM Reed Burckhardt, Bills assistant GM Terrance Gray, Rams assistant GM John McKay, and Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley.”

Until the reported trimdown, Minnesota has interviewed about nine outside candidates, according to reports.

Alper added, “Brzezinski has been doing the job in Minnesota on an interim basis since they fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. 49ers assistant GM RJ Gillen, Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler and Lions Assistant GM Ray Agnew were also involved in the first round. Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander declined an interview request.”

How We Got Here

The Vikings hired a brand new leadership regime in 2022, replacing former general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer with Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell, respectively. Together, the pair posted the NFL’s fifth-best winning percentage over the last four years but failed to reach the playoffs in 2025. The franchise also has a major question mark at quarterback, unsure if J.J. McCarthy is “the guy” for the future. So, Minnesota signed Kyler Murray this offseason to hedge the bet.

While the Vikings missed the postseason, the club’s 2024 quarterback, Sam Darnold, won a Super Bowl with his new team out in Seattle. Furthermore, Adofo-Mensah struggled to draft impactful players and featured a hit rate below 20%, which is mind-bogglingly destructive to the long-term health of an NFL roster.

The Vikings’ ownership fired Adofo-Mensah on January 30th, five days after Darnold’s Seahawks won the NFC Championship, retaining O’Connell and promoting Brzezinski to interim GM. O’Connell and Brzezinski engineered the 2026 offseason — free agency and the draft — and now the ownership group wants a formal GM search.

O’Connell and Brzezinski are expected to maintain significant power within the front office, regardless of who is hired among the five finalists.

Rob Brzezinski’s Angle

Brzezinski is a central figure in what makes this search so fascinating. While the Vikings appear to have the luxury of time to sort through candidates and determine their ideal front office structure, Brzezinski remains central to the entire process.

He has been with the franchise since 1999 — a remarkable 25-year tenure. His potential departure now would be particularly unusual, especially after he recently served three and a half months as interim general manager — a role many believe he handled effectively.

Brzezinski’s future could unfold in several ways. The Vikings might remove his interim tag and promote him to the full-time GM position. Alternatively, they could return him to his previous role as the team’s cap specialist and financial expert. A third option involves creating a custom structure that grants Brzezinski greater authority while bringing in a new GM focused primarily on personnel, scouting, and the draft.

Regardless of the outcome, Brzezinski’s influence is undeniable. Any serious search for a Vikings general manager must consider his presence.

Probably a Unique Setup

From 2006 to 2012, the Vikings welcomed a “triangle of authority” among the aforementioned Spielman, the owners, and the head coach (Brad Childress and Leslie Frazier). They’re not strangers to custom front-office dynamics.

There’s a decent chance that Minnesota names the new general manager, whose title has a different job description than most around the NFL.

It may be the price to pay if keeping O’Connell in a more powerful role is the desired result.

“We’ve interviewed different candidates, and it’s going well and progressing well. Not much new to report except to say I’m confident we’re gonna end up in a really good place, and I’m certainly excited about where we are as a football team. This will be helpful to go forward to the future,” owner Mark Wilf said about the state of the search this week.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker

The Minnesota Vikings might need a little bit of help at outside linebacker, Joey Bosa remains a free agent, and Bleacher Report believes the two parties could square dance.

Minnesota has in-house EDGE options, but Bosa’s profile keeps him relevant in the Vikings rumor mill.

The Vikings said goodbye to Jonathan Greenard four weeks ago, creating a void on the edges of the defensive line. Perhaps Bosa could be the special sauce.

Veteran Pass Rush Option Remains Available

Bosa is one of several veteran EDGEs on the free-agent wire waiting for contracts.

BR: Vikings Make Sense as Landing Spot for Bosa

Alex Kay examined the NFL’s top remaining free agents, and Bosa got a nod.

He wrote, “Perhaps most importantly to his prospects for 2026 and beyond, Bosa played nearly two-thirds of Buffalo’s defensive snaps. Considering he hadn’t logged a snap share higher than 54 percent since 2021, it was promising to see the once injury-ravaged defender return to playing a key role for a quality defense.”

“Working against Bosa is a glut of serviceable edge rushing talent lingering on the open market, but the 2016 Defensive Rookie of the Year stands as a cut above his unemployed peers.”

Kay then named the best landing spots, “Whether a team plans to use him as a rotational depth option or a higher-volume starter, Bosa still provides enough speed, power and skill to move the needle for any defense ahead of his 11th NFL season. Potential Landing Spots: Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers.”

That’s a who’s who of NFC combatants for Bosa, who’s never played outside the AFC, believe it or not.

Bosa’s Career Production

Bosa entered the pros in 2016 — yes, that long ago — and here’s his production in the last 10 seasons:

And his Pro Football Focus history:

His destination resume:

• Los Angeles Chargers (2016–2024)
• Buffalo Bills (2025)

Bosa has been named to the Pro Bowl five times and led the NFL in forced fumbles in 2025.

The Price

NFL free agency kicked off in early March, and Bosa is still waiting on his 2026 marching orders. He may be one of those players who latches onto a new roster later in the summer, perhaps even ducking the grueling sessions of training camp. Veterans are often afforded that luxury if they have five-time Pro Bowl clout — like Bosa.

He won’t be cheap for his next team. The Vikings or a different EDGE-needy team can likely sign Bosa to a one-year deal worth $10 million to $15 million. Bosa’s value may drop the longer he stays on the free-agent wire, but he’ll never be gettable for pennies. He’s still productive.

The Vikings, meanwhile, have about $11 million in cap space in late May after signing all nine rookies from the April draft class.

Golday, Richter, Batty?

If the Vikings don’t trade for or sign another pass rusher in free agency, they still have several in-house options behind Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner.

Rookie Jake Golday is a prime example. While Minnesota drafted him as an off-ball linebacker, he played some EDGE in college before moving inside at Cincinnati. Brian Flores could utilize Golday in a role similar to Van Ginkel’s, blending outside linebacker duties with off-ball work.

Flores also has two undrafted outside linebackers in Bo Richter and Tyler Batty. Either player could potentially step up and contribute as a third outside linebacker (OLB3). If that happens, Minnesota might bypass the veteran market entirely.

As a contingency, the team could turn to free agency for a non-Bosa candidate, where a notable list of pass rushers remains available, including Denico Autry, Derek Barnett, Jadeveon Clowney, Marcus Davenport, A.J. Epenesa, Leonard Floyd, Cameron Jordan, Von Miller, Haason Reddick, and Kyle Van Noy.

Bosa will turn 31 this summer; he’s not ancient in NFL terms.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker

Kyle Busch will miss Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after being hospitalized due to a severe illness, his family confirmed. The Richard Childress Racing veteran was slated to compete in both the Cup Series and Truck Series, but his condition forced a late withdrawal from both.

The Cup race, scheduled for May 24 at 6:00 PM ET, is one of NASCAR’s crown jewel events, spanning 400 laps and 600 miles. Busch will now miss it. His family released a statement addressing the situation on X:

“Kyle has experienced a severe illness resulting in hospitalization. He is currently undergoing treatment and will not compete in any of his scheduled activities this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. We ask for understanding and privacy as our family navigates this situation.”

The development caught many off guard, especially given Kyle Busch’s recent on-track efforts despite visible physical struggles. Just a week earlier at Watkins Glen, he had called for medical assistance mid-race, asking for physician assistant Bill Heisel to be present post-race. Busch mentioned needing “a shot” after battling a sinus-related issue throughout the weekend. Even then, he pushed through the discomfort to secure a top-10 finish.

Fans now link it to the current situation. Busch was battling through illness while continuing to race, and it appears the condition worsened in the days that followed. His absence from Charlotte also means he will miss planned participation in the Truck Series with Spire Motorsports in the No. 7 truck.

Austin Hill to replace Kyle Busch as RCR confirms Charlotte plan

With Kyle Busch sidelined, Richard Childress Racing moved quickly to name a replacement for the No. 8 Chevrolet. Austin Hill will step in, taking on double duty for the weekend alongside his full-time commitments with RCR in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

RCR confirmed the change in an official statement:

“Kyle Busch’s health is our utmost priority and he and his family have the full resources of RCR behind them. Kyle is an integral part of our organization and we wish him a safe and speedy recovery. His No. 8 Chevrolet will be ready and waiting for him. We’re thankful to Austin Hill for stepping in to drive the No. 8 Chevrolet this weekend. Please keep Kyle and the Busch family in your prayers, and help us respect the family’s privacy at this time.”

The rest of the team structure remains unchanged, with Andy Street continuing as crew chief for the No. 8 entry. Hill’s inclusion ensures continuity within the organization, though it adds to the workload on a demanding weekend.

For now, the focus remains on Kyle Busch’s recovery.