Three major snooker events removed from ITV to new channel | Other | Sport
The World Snooker Tour (WST) has confirmed that three popular events will be moved away from ITV. The broadcaster has been a long partner of the tour but faced increased competition, with two events this season going elsewhere in addition to next year’s British Open.
Qualifying for the 2025 British Open is currently underway, with the final edition between September 22-28 taking place on ITV before being taken to another channel. The event will be joined by both the Players Championship and Tour Championship.
All three tournaments will be heading to Channel 5 as they are set to showcase ranking events for the very first time. They will first host the Players Championship between February 16-22 and then the Tour Championship on March 30-April 5.
The Tour Championship, which John Higgins won this year, is the last event before the World Championship. No details on presenters, pundits, or commentators have been confirmed yet.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “We are delighted to be working with 5 for the first time and to add a new broadcaster to our tour. Snooker has a long history of providing fans with free-to-air events with extensive live coverage so this is fantastic news for everyone who follows our sport.
“The Players Championship and Tour Championship are elite events contested only by the best of the best. Players are striving all season to climb the one-year list and earn a place in these prestigious tournaments.
“And from 2026, 5 will also broadcast the British Open, which is a historic event with its own unique identity, including a random draw.”
Channel 5 has been a popular broadcaster of the World Seniors Championship, won this year by Alfie Burden, and is now extending its coverage as a result of its success.
Snooker supremo and Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn had previously disclosed that more broadcasters are knocking down his door to put the sport on their channels.
“There’s going to be a mixture of broadcasters because quite honestly, broadcasters like snooker,” he said in Sheffield. “It’s delivering ratings. We live in a numbers game. ITV4 has been fantastically successful for us in the numbers it’s got.
“So, obviously some of the other stations want snooker. And I think in the next couple of weeks we will lay out the deals that we’ve done.
“It’s going to involve a multiple number of broadcasters. Some free-to-air, some behind the pay-model. But it’s a compliment to where snooker is that it’s in demand.
“We need to be more encouraging to the younger market, which involves talking to them in the language that they understand and the medium that they understand. And that’s why the world is becoming more digital. The future is more Netflix than free-to-air.”
