http://www.worldsnooker.com/page/NewsAr ... 56,00.htmlNew Streaming ServiceWorld Snooker has signed a new five year agreement with digital sports media company PERFORM, to live stream all professional tournaments online, opening up the sport to a global audience on an unprecedented scale.
A new website,
http://www.liveworldsnooker.tv has been launched and will be the online home of World Snooker events. All tournaments will be streamed, including ranking event qualifiers and Players Tour Championship events. Streaming will not be available in territories where live broadcast of the tournaments are accessible.
Fans will be able to sign up to the site on a subscription basis, for a fee of £2.99 per month or £29.99 per year (£3.99 and £39.99 outside Europe, Middle East, North Africa, China and Hong Kong). This will give them access to live matches, with high quality streaming, reliable content and match commentary.
LIVEWORLDSNOOKER.TV is part of the LIVESPORT.TV network - the home of official high quality streaming of premium sports from around the world.
World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: "This is a hugely significant deal in terms of getting snooker out to the furthest corners of the globe. For people who love snooker but live in territories like North America or South America where there isn't much of it on TV, they can go online and see every tournament.
"It doesn't matter if you live in the Arctic Circle or the darkest corner of Africa, all you need is a computer, an internet connection and a credit card and you can watch top class snooker with excellent, reliable quality and commentary. The pricing is very reasonable and I believe £29.99 a year to watch up to 30 events is phenomenal value.
"For fans who already watch a lot of snooker on TV it's also great news because they will be able to see the qualifiers and PTC events. There are so many top players taking part in these tournaments and we are delighted to now have the right deal in place to show them to the world.
"PERFORM are leading experts on streaming and I have worked with them on other sports including darts, with great success. They will also play a role in the production of content and we have no doubt about their capacity to deliver."
Oliver Slipper, Joint-CEO, PERFORM commented: "We're delighted to add the World Snooker tournaments to our portfolio of LIVESPORT events. This platform provides snooker with an opportunity to reach millions of fans globally and also provides an opportunity to commercialise content in regions that were not previously available."
The first tournament to be streamed live is the current Shanghai Masters qualifiers, finishing tomorrow, August 4. A full schedule of events and details of how to sign up for the service are available at
http://www.liveworldsnooker.tv