BBC Sport and World Snooker Tour extend broadcast deal to 2032
BBC Sport and World Snooker Tour have agreed an extension to their broadcast agreement to 2032.
The new deal is a five-year extension to the current agreement.
The deal will ensure that the Triple Crown remains free-to-air for many millions of snooker fans across the UK.
BBC Sport said it will continue to provide comprehensive live TV and iPlayer coverage of Snooker’s three most prestigious tournaments, the World Championship, UK Championship and the Masters.
Alex Kay-Jelski, Director of BBC Sport said: “Snooker has been a cornerstone of BBC Sport programming since 1969, and extending our partnership with World Snooker until 2032 is fantastic news for the audience. It ensures the drama, intensity and excitement of the Triple Crown events remains free-to-air and we look forward to many more years of iconic sporting moments.”
The Masters, currently taking place at Alexandra Palace, is followed by the World Championship in Sheffield in April and the UK Championship in York in November. Last year, BBC Sport’s coverage of the Triple Crown events had 33.9 million streams across BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and over 16 million tuning in on TV.
In November last year, Sunset+Vine announced it had signed a three-year deal to produce the BBC’s snooker coverage.
Read more Break off: Sunset+Vine pots BBC Snooker contract with the Triple Crown
WST Chairman, Steve Dawson added: “For more than 50 years we have had an outstanding relationship with BBC and their coverage of the Triple Crown is a fundamental part of those three events. So many millions of fans love watching snooker on BBC and it has always been vital to us to keep the biggest tournaments free to air.”
WST Chief Commercial officer Peter Wright said: “The broadcast figures are extremely strong this week at the Masters which highlights the enduring appeal of snooker and the drama it produces year after year. We look forward to many more years working alongside the BBC, delivering world class sport to a vast audience.”