FIVE-TIME WORLD champion Ronnie O’Sullivan says snooker has become a ‘nothing-type sport’ and is being left behind by others sports that are embracing change.
Speaking at the UK Championship in York, O’Sullivan hit out at the way snooker is a ‘car boot sale’ while other sports, such as tennis, F1 and golf, are now shopping at luxury department stores.
“Snooker has become a nothing-type sport, but it’s still great,” he said.
“They’re just putting so much of it out there, it’s just cheap TV and a filler for other programmes – snooker has lost respect amongst other sports.
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“You watch Formula 1 and you see beautiful-looking people. You look at snooker and you think, ‘God.’
“It costs £5 to get in at some of the qualifying events and see a top-class player – it’s like a car boot sale whereas their sports are like shopping at Harrods.”
O’Sullivan cruised into the third round of the UK Championship with the winner set to take home a cheque for £170,000.
The 40-year-old believes World Snooker needs to continue its revamp of the sport in a bid to entice more sponsors on board.
O'Sullivan and World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn. Anna Gowthorpe
Anna Gowthorpe
Chairman Barry Hearn revealed new structures for the 2016 season with total prize money reaching £10 million in addition to new ranking tournaments being added to the schedule.
However, O’Sullivan still insists that more needs to be done to help snooker catch up with other sports.
“It’s all about media, money and business, and snooker is nothing compared to Formula 1, tennis and the Olympics. They’ve got corporate people involved who have a massive say in who is big and who is not big,” he added.
“Snooker is unable to attract those kind of sponsors or compete in that league.
“If it went to China and found some billionaires that want to take this sport on and put up £1m first prizes, then you could maybe start looking at snooker as a core sport again.”
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'Watch F1 and you see beautiful-looking people and you look at snooker and think 'God''
FIVE-TIME WORLD champion Ronnie O’Sullivan says snooker has become a ‘nothing-type sport’ and is being left behind by others sports that are embracing change.
Speaking at the UK Championship in York, O’Sullivan hit out at the way snooker is a ‘car boot sale’ while other sports, such as tennis, F1 and golf, are now shopping at luxury department stores.
“Snooker has become a nothing-type sport, but it’s still great,” he said.
“They’re just putting so much of it out there, it’s just cheap TV and a filler for other programmes – snooker has lost respect amongst other sports.
“You watch Formula 1 and you see beautiful-looking people. You look at snooker and you think, ‘God.’
O’Sullivan cruised into the third round of the UK Championship with the winner set to take home a cheque for £170,000.
The 40-year-old believes World Snooker needs to continue its revamp of the sport in a bid to entice more sponsors on board.
Chairman Barry Hearn revealed new structures for the 2016 season with total prize money reaching £10 million in addition to new ranking tournaments being added to the schedule.
However, O’Sullivan still insists that more needs to be done to help snooker catch up with other sports.
“It’s all about media, money and business, and snooker is nothing compared to Formula 1, tennis and the Olympics. They’ve got corporate people involved who have a massive say in who is big and who is not big,” he added.
“Snooker is unable to attract those kind of sponsors or compete in that league.
“If it went to China and found some billionaires that want to take this sport on and put up £1m first prizes, then you could maybe start looking at snooker as a core sport again.”
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
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