Ronnie Creates More Controversy
Ronnie O’Sullivan has once again been controversial in a post-match press conference. You can read about it by following the link below where you will also find a web link to the actual BBC audio clip so you can hear it for yourself. Let us know your thoughts…
This time O’Sullivan slates World Snooker and the way in which the game is run and managed. He also comments on his usual ‘I don’t really want to play the game’ when he describes breaking his snooker cue.
I must first say that what ever anyone’s thinks of Ronnie O’Sullivan there is no doubt in my mind that he is one of, if not, the best snooker player to have ever played the game. He is exciting and plays the game at a fair pace and with lots of flair and creativity.
There are a number of people out there that feel that snooker has had it’s day, I don’t believe that to be the case, quality tournaments are popping up all over Europe and the game is continuing to grow in the Middle & Far East. I think something needs to be done for the image of snooker as this is something that has not really changed in the last 20 years.
I am not suggesting big musical entrances or a rowdy crowd al la the darts but there are things that can be done to move this game forward.
One of them is the marketing of the tournaments, I read on the Snooker Scene Blog that the quarter-final match between Selby and Allen had only 282 people in the arena watching. This is poor for such a high profile event.
In my opinion ticket prices are about reasonable, but surely reducing them would mean more of an atmosphere and potentially more money into the World Snooker coffers, especially at a time when most are feeling the pinch. Another way to do this, again mentioned by Dave Hendon over at Snooker Scene, would be to offer packages to snooker clubs. I wanted this to go further, why not do the same for schools or sports clubs. There is actually a lot of educational value in snooker, not just in the physics but even down to the pure concentration needed to play at the top.
My next point comes down to the actual events, for too long snooker has relied on the BBC TV events to drive it’s popularity. To be a true ‘World Tour’ (and I have mentioned this numerous times) snooker needs to have ranking events on all continents, or at a minimum high quality invitational events to allow the sport to flourish, that could then become ranking events.
I actually thought it was a good move to put a ranking event on in Bahrain this season, although the crowd figures have proved me wrong. But could the crowd figures have been improved with better marketing? I think so. There is no question in my mind that snooker is growing in the Middle East, perhaps the UAE may have been a better place than Bahrain, especially with the likes of Peter Ebdon based in Dubai.
We need a ranking event in Western Europe, like Germany, Austria or Belgium and also another one to take advantage of the sports growth in Eastern Europe maybe Russia or Poland. I know everything comes down to sponsorship and prize money, however, would it not be better to look at getting the event on with decent enough money and perhaps dropping the ranking point tariff accordingly?
Sometimes I think Ronnie goes a bit far with his comments to the press, however, he is the one player that can and does have an impact on the coverage that the sport receives. As they say there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Listen to the press conference yourself below and let me know what you think of my points and Ronnie’s comments.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/7823318.stm
