BBC Extends Deal for World Snooker Tournaments

LONDON: BBC has extended its deal with World Snooker and will continue to broadcast three of the sport’s biggest tournaments until the end of the 2018-19 season.

The new agreement extends the current deal by two years and sees the BBC continue as host broadcaster of the three events known collectively as the Triple Crown: World Championship, the U.K. Championship and the Masters.

“Our agreement with the BBC is one of the cornerstones of our sport and we are delighted to extend it for an extra two years,” said Barry Hearn, the chairman of World Snooker. “These three major tournaments are much loved by the public, they are part of the fabric of British sport. The BBC’s coverage of the World Championship last year alone was watched by over 15 million people, proving how popular our sport is.

“The BBC and their production company IMG do a tremendous job in their coverage of snooker and this new deal is fantastic news for the many millions of people throughout the U.K. who love watching it. Our Triple Crown tournaments are three of the high points of the sporting calendar so fans will be thrilled that they will remain on terrestrial television.”

Barbara Slater, the director of BBC Sport, added: “With another exciting World Championship drawing to a close there is no better time to reinforce our commitment to one of our nation’s most treasured sports.

“This deal keeps the three biggest tournaments in the snooker calendar on the BBC until 2019 and we know there will be millions of snooker fans across the country celebrating the fact that they can continue to watch world-class snooker on free-to-air television.”