A new style of snooker attire is on sale with players at next week’s Champion of Champions set to wear specialised jerseys.
Promoted by Matchroom Sport, the Champion of Champions is a 16-player invitational event featuring winners across the recent 12-month period.
Ronnie O’Sullivan will be the defending champion in Bolton as he bids to capture the title for a record-extending fifth time.
The world number one will don one of the new snooker jerseys with his nickname “Rocket” on the back, representing a major marketing shift for the sport.
Snooker has traditionally been associated with formal wear that includes dress pants, a shirt, a waistcoat, and a dickie bow or tie.
Each of the 16 competitors in the Champion of Champions field will be getting their own specialised jersey for the tournament.
All 16 snooker jerseys, which will come in a range of different colours, will additionally be on sale to the public.
Jimmy White, who will be making his first appearance in the prestigious invitational since 2020, has already shared his views on the fresh initiative.
“I do like the dress suit we wear in snooker, but I really don’t mind this,” the Whirlwind told The Sun.
“In fact, it’s quite comfortable. I’m glad I’ve had it for a few days beforehand for the feel of it.”
“It’s a good job. You cannot really go out and buy a Jimmy White dress suit, can you?
“People might start to have different colour shirts on for different tournaments.”
There are many who believe that snooker has fallen behind the times in terms of marketing and promotion.
Whether this idea takes off remains to be seen, but it’s certainly worth a try and it’ll be interesting to see how the players look and perform during the event in the more relaxed turnout.
The new snooker jerseys are available to purchase at Onboard Sportswear here.
The 2023 Champion of Champions, meanwhile, begins on Monday with White’s first-round encounter against Mark Allen.
Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, and world champion Luca Brecel are among the other high-profile players in the draw.
Champion of Champions Schedule
2023 Champion of Champions
Monday (Group 4)
Last 16 (bo7)
Mark Allen 4-1 Jimmy White
Mark Selby 3-4 Ali Carter
Quarter-Final (bo11)
Mark Allen 6-2 Ali Carter
Tuesday (Group 2)
Last 16 (bo7)
Luca Brecel 0-4 Barry Hawkins
Mark Williams 2-4 Robert Milkins
Quarter-Final (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Robert Milkins
Wednesday (Group 1)
Last 16 (bo7)
John Higgins 4-0 Chris Wakelin
Ding Junhui 4-3 Zhang Anda
Quarter-Final (bo11)
John Higgins 6-1 Ding Junhui
Thursday (Group 3)
Last 16 (bo7)
Judd Trump 4-0 Baipat Siripaporn
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Gary Wilson
Quarter-Final (bo11)
Judd Trump 6-4 Shaun Murphy
Friday
Semi-Final (bo11)
Barry Hawkins 3-6 Judd Trump
Saturday
Semi-Final (bo11)
John Higgins 2-6 Mark Allen
Sunday
Final (bo19)
Judd Trump 3-10 Mark Allen
Featured photo credit: Onboard Sportswear
I’m not opposed to this for one tournament but hope there’s not too much nonsense about how this might bring in a new audience. What happens on the table will ultimately decide whether people want to watch this great sport. I find dress code discussion pretty dull.
If crash and bang and wallop marketing and branding worked well for cue sports then pool would probably be a much bigger sport than it is, even stateside and in East Asia, let alone Europe and the UK. Meanwhile snooker has an identifiable “look” which almost every sports fan in the British Isles, and in some Asian and commonwealth countries, will know of, it could almost be called brand recognition. Having said all that having some experimentation and some more variety on the pro tour is no big problem for me as a snooker fan so I will be interested to see how the players and fans get on with these.
The waistcoat and bowtie is part of snooker’s identity and distinctive. I’m not against this for one event but people are going to suddenly tune in for a best of 11 because they’re wearing ‘cooler’ clothing. Where it might work is providing some better merchandise for punters.
I think it would be fairer to reserve judgement until we actually see the players next week. Maybe it’ll look fine (or maybe not like the previous years). But the idea of fans being able to buy their favourite player’s jersey isn’t a bad one, especially for young kids. If those tops were around when I was young, I probably would have wanted one. That kind of brand promotion for any sport is important, and it’s an area snooker is dreadfully lacking in.
I agree about the merchandise point and I’m not critical of this decision as they’ve worn t-shirts previously at this event. The jerseys look good also.
I still stand by my point however that too much emphasis is placed on a dress code bringing in a new audience.
they look great – it’ll be interesting to see the sales figures after the event… who wouldn’t want porn on their back!
I thought I had tuned in to a Darts Tournament.
I thought I had tuned in to a Darts Tournament. The shirts are too casual and lowers the tone of snooker.
Dreadful. Lowering the tone as previous comments have mentioned. Still love the sport but the smart image somehow elevates it.
New shirts really destroy the image of snooker. Why not just keep to the original outfit? What happened to etiquette.
These look like leftovers from a darts match.
Not flattering at all unless you have Trumps waistline!
Not very impressive being able to see tattoos on the table too.
Cheap looking and horrid.