MY POINT ON THE SNOOKER SENIORS THING
No clickbat title or images. Although this blog is where I like to write opinions, I don’t like doing it not based on proven facts, even if I know them to be accurate. So, I don’t want this to be reaching too many people, I’m actually just writing it for future reference, if you like.
As we get closer and closer to the World Championship, the big talking point is whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will turn up in Sheffield or not. And despite the many theories and excuses as to why he hasn’t played a tournament since early January, I’ve wrote here before what might be behind all this.
For those who don’t know, a company that has Ronnie O’Sullivan as a shareholder (NST Worldwide Ltd) has filed a lawsuit against World Snooker Tour (WST). As it turns out, this company is behind Snooker Legends that, for those who still don’t know, is behind the World Seniors Snooker (WSS).
And most recently, WSS has announced its contract with WST has been terminated early. Why? Because they want players aged over 45 ranked inside the WST’s top 64 to be eligible to play seniors events (and they got it).
Now, what does that have to do with Ronnie coming to Sheffield or not? Well, Barry Hearn (owner of Matchroom, which owns WST) has made it clear before that he will do anything to avoid competition. So, why would he give in the exclusivity with his players under contract now? Well, because the World Championship is arriving and be sure that broadcasters, promoters and audience don’t want it to happen without Ronnie.
Now, is that pressure from WSS detrimental to snooker? Well, part of the agreement from now on is that WSS can’t stage televised tournaments when there are WST events going on, therefore in the end it doesn’t immediately change much for WST, while WSS (and its shareholders) can earn more money off big names participating in their events.
Does it make sense for the seniors, though? For years and years now I think that the Senior Tour is totally missing the point on what their events are supposed to be like. See, amongst players in the top 64 right now aged over 45 there are the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter, with names like Mark Selby and Neil Robertson soon to become 45. Do you want to watch these players in a seniors event? No! We want to watch them on the main tour.
In a senior’s event you want to watch the likes of Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, etc. That is what should be the product of a senior's tour, something they’re missing since they reduced the age of eligible players many years ago.
Don’t be surprised, though, if more agreements are reached between WST and WSS / Snooker Legends / NST before we know whether Ronnie O’Sullivan will comeback.
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