World Snooker, which was struggling for sponsors has recently secured new lucrative deals from 888.com and Saga Insurance for the World Championship and Masters events respectively. The story mentions the threat to snooker by the IPT.
Story / Interview Below:
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Thursday January 19, 2006
The Guardian
Are there any plans to make the game "harder" to maintain a level of challenge and excitement. In other sports such as golf this is an ongoing exercise.
Keith Fairbrother by email
Sir Rodney Walker We are always monitoring new developments, but the excitement level of snooker remains high and is reflected in TV figures. More people watched the climax of last year's World Championship (7.8m) than watched the last day of the Ashes. New players coming through, for example Ding Junhui, Mark Allen and Judd Trump, have amazing technical ability and will make standards even higher.
Why does the world championship have to have a permanent UK base? Wouldn't it be better to allow other countries to host it from time to time?
D Unwin by email
This is an interesting debate and in view of the globalisation of the sport is something that will need to be looked at. The Crucible at Sheffield is a historic venue, it is our Centre Court, and for the next five years at least the 888.com World Snooker Championship will be held there, but after that we will see.
The majority of the WPBSA Board are players or their relatives - when are you going to bring the professionals in?
Eamonn Ward Sheffield
That is exactly what I have been doing over the past two years. People like the chairman of the FA Premier League David Richards and TV expert Adrian Metcalfe have provided expertise, but the WPBSA is owned by the players and they must have a major say.
Where do you think snooker will be in 20 years' time?
Stewart Etherington Darlington
Much more global. Last year more than 155 million in China watched the China Open on TV. There are 50 million people playing snooker in China, and many more millions in the Asia-Pacific area. Three of the four semi-finalists in the World Under-21 Championship were Chinese and Ding won the Travis Perkins UK Championship before Christmas. By 2026 it is possible snooker will have ceased to be the UK-orientated sport it is now and our players will be travelling the world like tennis players do now.
Do you fear an exodus of players to the north American pool circuit?
Andy Dawson by email
No. There is no evidence that our players are seriously looking to leave the world snooker tour to play pool. Our world No1 Ronnie O'Sullivan said he was considering playing pool in the United States, but only last week he reaffirmed his commitment to snooker and admitted he had made a mistake withdrawing from the Malta Cup to play in a pool event which has now been postponed.
Why has it proved so difficult for snooker to find new sponsors?
Alex Scott Colchester
Realistically nothing was going to happen until our BBC TV deal had been extended. Once agreement was reached in November we were able to go into the market place and offer five years of terrestrial coverage, with peak audiences which can top seven million. In the past week we have announced a five-year multimillion-pound deal with 888.com to sponsor the World Championship and Saga Insurance will sponsor The Masters.
Story / Interview Below:
-------------------
Thursday January 19, 2006
The Guardian
Are there any plans to make the game "harder" to maintain a level of challenge and excitement. In other sports such as golf this is an ongoing exercise.
Keith Fairbrother by email
Sir Rodney Walker We are always monitoring new developments, but the excitement level of snooker remains high and is reflected in TV figures. More people watched the climax of last year's World Championship (7.8m) than watched the last day of the Ashes. New players coming through, for example Ding Junhui, Mark Allen and Judd Trump, have amazing technical ability and will make standards even higher.
Why does the world championship have to have a permanent UK base? Wouldn't it be better to allow other countries to host it from time to time?
D Unwin by email
This is an interesting debate and in view of the globalisation of the sport is something that will need to be looked at. The Crucible at Sheffield is a historic venue, it is our Centre Court, and for the next five years at least the 888.com World Snooker Championship will be held there, but after that we will see.
The majority of the WPBSA Board are players or their relatives - when are you going to bring the professionals in?
Eamonn Ward Sheffield
That is exactly what I have been doing over the past two years. People like the chairman of the FA Premier League David Richards and TV expert Adrian Metcalfe have provided expertise, but the WPBSA is owned by the players and they must have a major say.
Where do you think snooker will be in 20 years' time?
Stewart Etherington Darlington
Much more global. Last year more than 155 million in China watched the China Open on TV. There are 50 million people playing snooker in China, and many more millions in the Asia-Pacific area. Three of the four semi-finalists in the World Under-21 Championship were Chinese and Ding won the Travis Perkins UK Championship before Christmas. By 2026 it is possible snooker will have ceased to be the UK-orientated sport it is now and our players will be travelling the world like tennis players do now.
Do you fear an exodus of players to the north American pool circuit?
Andy Dawson by email
No. There is no evidence that our players are seriously looking to leave the world snooker tour to play pool. Our world No1 Ronnie O'Sullivan said he was considering playing pool in the United States, but only last week he reaffirmed his commitment to snooker and admitted he had made a mistake withdrawing from the Malta Cup to play in a pool event which has now been postponed.
Why has it proved so difficult for snooker to find new sponsors?
Alex Scott Colchester
Realistically nothing was going to happen until our BBC TV deal had been extended. Once agreement was reached in November we were able to go into the market place and offer five years of terrestrial coverage, with peak audiences which can top seven million. In the past week we have announced a five-year multimillion-pound deal with 888.com to sponsor the World Championship and Saga Insurance will sponsor The Masters.
