ITV will continue to televise five live events on the World Snooker Tour for at least the next two years following a significant new agreement.
The deal will see the Champion of Champions snooker invitational in addition to the World Grand Prix, Players Championship, Tour Championship, and British Open ranking events broadcast live by ITV until at least 2024.
This ensures that these lucrative tournaments will continue to be broadcast on free-to-air television to millions of fans, who will be able to see the sport’s greatest names competing for some of snooker’s most coveted titles.
The Cazoo Champion of Champions has been running since 2013 and is promoted by Matchroom Multi Sport.
Tournament winners over the previous 12 months come together to battle for one of the sport’s most prestigious invitation titles.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, and Fan Zhengyi have reached the semi-finals of the ongoing Champion of Champions in Bolton this week.
The World Grand Prix features the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list while only the top 16 go through to the Players Championship, before the top eight finally qualify for the prestigious Tour Championship.
The Cazoo British Open, recently won by Ryan Day, starts with 128 players and features a random draw for every round.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “This new agreement with ITV is fantastic news for the sport, the players and most important the British fans, who will be able to watch these huge events on a free-to-air channel until at least the end of 2024.”
“Each tournament has its own identity and they have all become outstanding events on our global calendar.
“We are delighted to extend our relationship with ITV who have been a great partner for many years.
“Their viewing figures for snooker are consistently excellent, and that is due to the exceptional quality of their coverage as well as the perpetual popularity of our sport as a viewing experience.
“We look forward to working with the ITV team for another two years and beyond.”
Emily Frazer, Managing Director of Matchroom Multi-Sport, said: “The Champion of Champions has a burgeoning reputation as one of the most prestigious events on the calendar and we’re delighted to have the continued support of ITV which keeps this event on free-to-air TV in the UK.”
“We’re excited to see where we push the tournament year on year as we continue to see a huge appetite from the fans to see the 16 champions from the last 12 months battle it out to be the ultimate Champion of Champions.”
Featured photo credit: WST
Nothing in there about the mixed doubles.