Ladbrokes Announces Snooker Sponsorship Treble

The 2017/18 snooker season finished in dramatic style with a great comeback win at the World Championships for veteran Mark Williams. The popular Welshman concluded his own successful campaign by setting a record for the longest gap between wins at the Crucible as the curtain came down on another great year on the green baize.

In the last few days, preparation has really started to get underway for the 2018/19 season and we’ve seen a number of sponsorship deals being announced for ranking tournaments. However, it’s Ladbrokes who have captured the majority of the headlines as they get ready to back no fewer than three of the key events on the circuit.

Established Partner

As a long established company that pre-dates the digital era, Ladbrokes have been behind a number of top tournaments for many years and from the start of 2019, snooker fans will become even more familiar with the name.

Under the terms of the latest deal, Ladbrokes has renewed its sponsorship of the World Grand Prix and the Players Championship while it has also moved to add the new Tour Championship to its portfolio.

The Tour Championship makes its debut on the snooker calendar next year and will be held in Llandudno from March 19-24 2019. In fact, the three tournaments involved are crammed into a short period of time with the World Grand Prix taking place in Cheltenham in early February, followed by the Players Championship in Preston at the beginning of March.

It’s a big coup for the sport to have Ladbrokes’ considerable backing and that fact was acknowledged by the Chairman of World Snooker, Barry Hearn.

Development

Barry Hearn

The development of the Ladbrokes Series has been one of the most exciting innovations on our global tour in recent years.

Mr Hearn said.

It means that from the very first ball of the season, players must earn enough money to qualify for these prestigious and lucrative events in the second half of the campaign.

Adding the Tour Championship to the series makes it so competitive as we will go from 32 to 16 to eight players, with only the very best surviving until the end. And with a possible £500,000 to be won, it is a huge incentive for all of the top stars.

Speaking on behalf of the sponsor, Ladbrokes’ Head of Sponsorship and Events Adrian Osman added:

Having worked with Barry and the World Snooker team for many years, we are delighted to be involved in yet another innovation in the sport, with the launch of the Ladbrokes Series.

Packed Calendar

One of the latest moves in the World of Snooker is to establish a series of events. We’ve seen this in the Home Nations competition where the English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh Opens combine and if a player completes a clean sweep of four victories, there is an overall £1m prize fund at stake.

The Ladbrokes’ series works on a slightly looser theme but the formatting is interesting. Snooker is growing in popularity all over the world so it’s debatable as to whether the sport needs any further tinkering but the continued development is welcomed by many and it’s perhaps fitting that an established brand such as Ladbrokes should be behind this latest innovation.