Snooker draws Huge Numbers

UK figures

... And those just numbers for UK viewers. How many watched the semi between Trump and Ding in China? How many viewers in Europe?

Snooker sure gets great figures, but imo that mainly for the WC, Masters, and the UK Championships. Smaller tournaments don't get nearly as many. Those big tournaments have great history and tradition behind their success. But i'm also thinking that playing longer races (and for bigger prize money) sure doesn't hurt, eh?

J.S.
 
Fast Lenny said:
It would be cool if we could get these numbers for pool, sponsors would be all over it. I am wondering if those millions of people over there would be interested in watching live pool from here in the USA. :cool:

http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=8720
Click to expand...

I have been at those tournaments and they sell out. I was at the Crucible and I was lucky to get a ticket it was standing room only. There is more to it though, they have betting windows right at the venue. People all over Europe bet on Snooker. That is one of the big draws. It is also cultural, Snooker is a national sport and has been for years. Comparing a nondescript almost meaningless sport like pool in America to Snooker in Europe is apples to oranges.
 
Pool on tv is missing the magic ingredient, drama.
Even though I play pool watching it kinda bores me silly but I am glued to the world snooker every year and have been for over 30 years :)
 
China

Picked this up from Twitter:

Another viewing figure: 241 million people in China watched at least three minutes of the World Championship! (Worldsnooker)

Pretty cool, huh?

J.S.
 
It was the best World Champs i have seen for many a year

I watched online and i bet those numbers aren't counted

It had Ding making it further than he ever has, Ding has a whole continent behind him

It had the coming of age of the most exciting cueist for many a year in Judd Trump

It had a star studded Quarter final lineup with much less upsets than previous years meaning we had matchups like Ronnie v Higgins, Higgins v Willaims, Ding v Selby, Ding v Trump etc etc

Plenty of drama , great snooker, was a blast to watch and i'm still going through withdrawal symptons
 
Philthepockets said:
Pool on tv is missing the magic ingredient, drama.
Even though I play pool watching it kinda bores me silly but I am glued to the world snooker every year and have been for over 30 years :)
Click to expand...

Snooker is much more interestring than pool, i love pool but the professional level is wrong. When a match is decided by a skid, or because you came up dry on the break something is wrong. The matches are decided only because the bad/ good luck. I don't say luck doesn't exist in snooker but it is a much smaller factor.
 
To get a world TV audience for pool would require:

A universally acknowledged World Championship :grin:

Stories about players that catch public attention
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ot...dd-Trump-follows-path-people-s-champions.html
not to mention John Higgins' comeback after being suspended

Spectacular play

Drama

In the China Open, two weeks before the World Championship, Trump rolled through the last three levels:
5 - 1 against Peter Ebdon
6 - 1 against Shaun Murphy
And was never beaded by Mark Selby in the final
Until that point he had never done much in ranking tournaments, although he had won everything as a junior and made a 147 in competition at a younger age than Ronnie O'Sullivan.

He was playing John Higgins.

Higgins came back from
5 - 8 down against Ronnie O'Sullivan
5 - 9 down against Mark Williams
9 - 12 down against Judd Trump

In the past five years Higgins has won the World Championship three times.
He now has four, one more than Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Also consider: the competition starts out best of 19, semi finals are best of 33, and the final the best of 35 - four sessions over two days. Offhand, I can't think of any other event where two players could get that much TV time entirely to themselves.
 
long matches are key to minimizing luck ( check my signature )

been saying that for years

the luck/slop rules in 9 ball were a joke, matches are virtual toss ups, 10 ball has improved on that

the key rule that should be standard is giving the incoming player the option to shoot or pass

10 foot tables, 10 ball, and long matches will go a long way to making the game more exciting

Snooker is not an inherently more exciting game for tv viewing, but the format is
 
Don't forget that they have & use organized betting systems to help draw those numbers for snooker.
 
macguy said:
I have been at those tournaments and they sell out. I was at the Crucible and I was lucky to get a ticket it was standing room only. There is more to it though, they have betting windows right at the venue. People all over Europe bet on Snooker. That is one of the big draws. It is also cultural, Snooker is a national sport and has been for years. Comparing a nondescript almost meaningless sport like pool in America to Snooker in Europe is apples to oranges.
Click to expand...

And, the one time in America they tried to lay Vegas odds on a pool tournament, the players conspired to fix the game (reportedly).

Except, as I understand it, for Earl who refused to go along with the scam.
 
When you watch Snooker and the top snooker players, you actually think, frack that looks hard

When you watch 9ball you think, i could have run that rack as well

There is luck in snooker but its nothing like the luck in the break in pool.
 
Fast Lenny said:
It would be cool if we could get these numbers for pool, sponsors would be all over it. I am wondering if those millions of people over there would be interested in watching live pool from here in the USA. :cool:

http://www.azbilliards.com/2000storya.php?storynum=8720
Click to expand...

glad to see snooker growing again.
however, im extremely cautious, especially about the reporting the stats.
brining back a bit of stats 101...

6.4m is the highest... what about the rest of the broadcast? throughout the match and throughout the tournament, has its been steadily close to that? or extremely volitale?

the highest number doesnt explain jack. its like saying "i came", but did it take 1 minute (premature) or did it take 20minutes (endurance!!)
or it is just a statement of fact, stating that i have a penis, but the question is how long/short is it?
my point is that the figure alone doesnt mean anything.
we need to look at the overall average as the tournament progressed, the level of volatiilty that number has experienced as well.

likewise, as a point of digression, the stat reporting of snooker and cuesports are primitive at best. if our sport is to taken even more seriously with respect, we gotta be that we are sophisticated shot makers, both on and off the table.

this is where i deeply admire nba in this aspect. you look at a player like ray allen, the commentators and reporters can quickly reference his detailed game and career stats altogether and it can be publicly accessed too. :)

IF we do want these viewing numbers, the solution is to have more babies! USA doesnt have laws prohibiting fornication.
PROCREATION FTW.
 
Last edited:
jonnyyyl said:
the stat reporting of snooker ... primitive at best
Click to expand...

Obviously, you weren't watching BBC snooker :D

Amongst the stats
Length of the match
Length of the frame
Length of time since a player last potted a ball
Total balls potted by player in match
Total balls potted by player in tournament
Total points scored in tournament
Total points scored in match
Long pot success percentage
Safety success percentage
Average number of frames played per century
Average number of points scored per frame

As for the audience - on the web sites I was using, number of viewers were about 10X normal.
 
Scaramouche said:
Obviously, you weren't watching BBC snooker :D

Amongst the stats
Length of the match
Length of the frame
Length of time since a player last potted a ball
Total balls potted by player in match
Total balls potted by player in tournament
Total points scored in tournament
Total points scored in match
Long pot success percentage
Safety success percentage
Average number of frames played per century
Average number of points scored per frame

As for the audience - on the web sites I was using, number of viewers were about 10X normal.
Click to expand...

no man. i was.
Total balls potted by player in match > waht about career?
Total balls potted by player in tournament > ditto
Total points scored in tournament > ditto
Total points scored in match > ditto
Long pot success percentage> ditto
Safety success percentage > ditto
Average number of frames played per century > the bbc snooker profiles, the ones with the cool dance music, only show that season's stats, starting with the PTC events
Average number of points scored per frame > ditto

in fact, if you want to find out who the best century maker is, you would want to get all the centuries divided by the number number of frames of his entire career. i dare say that hendry wouldnt be top, he's been pro since 1986. ronnie MIGHT be up there, because he turned pro in 1992
if anything it might be judd trump, hes got over 100 only 5 seasons. :)
 
Last edited:
Scaramouche said:
Obviously, you weren't watching BBC snooker :D

Amongst the stats
Length of the match
Length of the frame
Length of time since a player last potted a ball
Total balls potted by player in match
Total balls potted by player in tournament
Total points scored in tournament
Total points scored in match
Long pot success percentage
Safety success percentage
Average number of frames played per century
Average number of points scored per frame

As for the audience - on the web sites I was using, number of viewers were about 10X normal.
Click to expand...

Were there any 147's this year in the tournament?
 
I have loved snooker in one bastardized form or anther for most of my life. It's a shame there is such a wasteland in the US so far as snooker tables are concerned. Almost every small town in this area used to have a pool room and in most of them one would find 3 or 4 snooker tables - most often outnumbering the pool tables. In my own hometown of about 1200 people there were two rooms with 4 snooker/2 pool tables each.

Now the cost of real estate and doing business in general is so high that one couldn't charge an amount sufficient to operate a proper room and maintain a good customer base. Too bad there isn't some major organization devoted to spreading the popularity of snooker in the US. Offering aid and assistance to those that would start up new rooms would be a huge help and shot in the arm for the game.

Snooker is a beautiful game of finesse and should be more widely played.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top