In our exclusive Q&A, World Snooker's head talks the UK Championship, the game's expansion and not sponsoring 'mediocrity'
The first Triple Crown event of the season, the UK Championship, is here. What does the tournament mean to you and how much are you looking forward to it?
BH: Behind the World Championships, this is the most prestigious ranking event in the world.
Obviously, it’s got the biggest prize money and, because our rankings are decided on prize money won, it has more significance than any other event.
It’s also quite unique. It’s a 128-man flat draw and it’s the only tournament in the snooker world where the seeding is absolutely strict.
So while the minnows are up against it, they’ve got the opportunity to knock out the big names.
We’re expecting some shocks because the nature of snooker at the moment is wide open and we’ve had a few interesting stories this year.
I probably go back on this event 30 years and, in my life, the most important thing was that this was the first major that Steve Davis ever won.
For me, personally, and for Steve, it’s a day we’ll never forget.
What are your hopes for the tournament?
BH: I think this tournament is going to be the starting point for someone else’s carer because snooker is a changed sport.
It’s wide open, it’s younger, more aggressive and the players are unbelievably good. But who can cope with the atmosphere of sold-out crowds at York? The crowds are up yet again.
I’m very happy with the event. There’s lots of speculation about the BBC and how long they’re going to be involved in the sport.
Well, I have to tell you that we have a long-term deal with the BBC. We’re very happy with the BBC and they’re very happy with us.
The global audience of this will go out and reach somewhere in the region of 800 million homes. It’s in China live, it’s all over Asia, Australasia, the Middle East and Scandinavia.
The whole of Europe is a massive factor in this these days because the figures there are huge.
And, of course, it’s on the BBC and will be free-to-air to the nation. So it’s happy days and I’m looking forward to a terrific event.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is not defending his title. How much of an opportunity is there for other players – not just to win the tournament, but also increase their profile?
BH: Of course, we’d love to have Ronnie here. In the same way a lot of golf tournaments would have loved to have had an in-form Tiger Woods in this year.
But that’s sport. No individual is bigger than the sport.
Ronnie made a point of saying he’s going to be playing snooker some time, but at the moment he doesn’t feel ready for competitive snooker. He understands – because Ronnie knows better than anybody – how competitive this game is.
Ronnie says that when he comes back – and it’s a when, not an if – he wants to come back firing on all cylinders and be ready for these young guns. He’s not ready yet.
So we’ve acknowledged his right to make his own decision and we look forward to welcoming him back into the fold.
In the meantime, we’ve got an absolutely star-studded line-up of great talent. It’s very tough these days to pick a winner.
When Kyren Wilson won the Shanghai Masters, he went from, like, 55 to 22 in the world. Changed his life in one tournament.
The same opportunity exists for other players at the UK Championship.
Snooker is now, of course, a global game. How happy are you with the progress of the sport and which territories are you keen to take the game next?
BH: I think as far as snooker’s concerned, it’s an unfinished symphony for me because I’m never satisfied.
But, the prize money was three-and-a-half million when I took over and next season it’s 10 million. There was half a dozen tournaments, now there’s 30-odd.
So we’ve got the players working – we’re getting our payback in terms of the standard getting higher and higher. And the players have really had to put their shoulder in because it’s a hard old schedule now.
There’s not a week that goes past without a tournament somewhere in the world and the world itself is opening up for us.
We’ve seen Australia and India being added and we’re getting more and more demand – ridiculously more demand – from China, where it’s a national occupation almost.
There’s over 100,000 full-time players in China now – and we’re working hard in South America and the whole of Asia – whether it’s Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan.
They’re all buying into this snooker dream. It’s a great game and it televises very well. Even for the BBC, it’s quite an inexpensive sport to televise, which is perhaps a big advantage for us.
Because it all comes down to cost-per-hour of programming in these difficult times for everybody, so we’re in a particularly good place.
So whilst I wouldn’t give anyone 10 out of 10, I’m eight going on nine at the moment.
How have the players adapted to the change and how much personal responsibility do they have to take to help grow the game?
BH: I can create opportunities. That’s what we specialise in and hopefully we’re giving people an opportunity to change their life through excellence in sport.
But a big part of the future plans for the sport comes down to the players themselves. How hard are they going to work? Outside the field of play as well as inside.
I’m looking for more media attention, so therefore I’m going to need more back-up from the players.
And I’m demanding – I have a meeting [this week] with the players’ representatives – and I’ll be telling them in no uncertain terms that this is what I want.
I want the game to be entertaining, to be played at perhaps a slightly faster pace, I want them to be aware that the audience is the most important thing in the world – the live audience and the TV audience – and I want them to do more, rather than less.
In a difficult and hectic schedule, I want them to understand that they have a major part to play.]
To be fair, the vast majority of players have given me everything I want.
We’re in a very good place, but we could be in an ever better place if we work harder. And that’s my message to the players.
The Home Series starts next season and is similar to the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup. What can snooker learn – professionally and commercially – from other sports?
BH: I look at golf an awful lot because I think it’s a very well-organised sport.
In both the darts and snooker, I’ve brought in Q-School because I think it’s open to everyone and ability is the only criteria.
I bring in rules where, on the snooker side, if you don’t win a match, you don’t get any money. They haven’t made the cut.
People say: “Ah, that’s brutal.” Sport is brutal. And that’s because we demand excellence. Therefore, I’m not going to sponsor mediocrity.
So if you don’t win a game, you don’t get money.
Even if you’re seeded through to the World Championships as a top-16 player, if you lose your first-round match, the money you get doesn’t count in rankings.
We’re going to make it very competitive. That’s harsh on players, but it’s brilliant for us spectators.
How important do the Triple Crown events remain to the World Snooker calendar?
BH: I think with the expansion of the game around the world, we musn’t forget our UK base.
Obviously, there’s the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship – three very big events – but we need to remember the fans in Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.
They need to see the best players and be reminded how good this game is all the time and our job is to get out there and do it.
We’ve had three or four years with the European Tour, which has done a fantastic job for us and created a massive TV contract with Eurosport.
We’re going from 100 grand prize money in events to three or four hundred.
We’re now at the stage where we’re more mature and more organised and we’re looking to make more of a splash in the sporting world – in particular with our TV partners.
I think the history of the game and certainly in players’ minds, to win the Triple Crown is still the biggest accolade they can have. Each of those three are massive events in their own right.
Players will announce themselves as a Triple Crown winner because not many of them have done it and, frankly, the game is so competitive that there won’t be too many in the future.
But they’ll get their chance. They all started in round one and it’s going to be fascinating to watch who comes through at the end of the Betway UK Championship.
Betway UK Championship betting
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