Snooker Scene’s David Hendon revealed earlier this week that there will be a new sponsor for the World Championship this year and it has now been revealed that this will be another betting company, Betfred…
Yes after all the speculation over the last few weeks, it has now been confirmed by David and the News of the World that Betfred will be investing £2m into the sport over the next four years, a welcome boost to the WPBSA’s finances and for the sport in general.
I am not quite sure how this compares to the previous 888.com deal but some money is surely better than none and it can only be a positive for the event that it will not go without a sponsor after all.
The only concern that I have is that to me it reads as though Betfred will pay £2m for the four years combined, a sum which would not even come close to covering the prize money. For example last year the total prize fund totalled £1,050,000 and it was confirmed earlier in the season by David that this will increase by a further £61,000 for this season.
If therefore it is the case that they are only getting £500,000 per season from Betfred, then it looks to me like the betting company have got a very good deal indeed. If anyone knows how much 888.com were putting into the tournament then it would be great if you could let me know as I can’t seem to find anything on it.
Betfred have of course been involved with snooker before too, sponsoring players such as Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Ryan Day, as well as tournaments such as the Premier League between 2005-7. Hopefully therefore they will be know what snooker fans want and as well as invest money into the sport, help to make the fan experience at the Crucible as enjoyable as it has been over the last few years, if not more so.