Badsnookerplayer wrote:I agree SF but this is common across many sports where often people go to be able to say 'I was there' rather than because they are interested in the sport. Hence in many sports, smaller events are struggling whilst the prestige events are selling out for bigger and bigger prices.
Judging by ticket prices at smaller snooker events, they won't be making a great deal from them anyway. However, I agree with you about marketing. Better to sell tickets for £2 than have an empty venue on TV. It looks bad and furthers the impression of a sport that is 'boring'.
I've told this story before. And it was a few years ago, so pre-Hearn. But I still think it slightly relates to today.
I was in Telford for the first rounds of the UK Championships. I watched a few games over the first couple of days. After finishing the second session in the afternoon, I'd decided I'd watched enough and went back to my hotel for dinner. The hotel bar was open to the public, so wasn't just hotel guests.
Anyway, I had my dinner, was having a couple of beers, and somebody put the evening session on BBC on. Some guy was watching it with his drink, obviously interested in the match. He turned to me and asked if I knew where it was being played. I told him The Telford International Center. It took a minute for the penny to drop. He was like; "That's only up the road." I told him I'd been watching it. He had no idea it was being played locally.
Obviously, this guy hadn't watched any of it previously. We were on day 3. If he'd have watched any at home, he'd have clocked. But the point is, he has an interest in snooker enough to enjoy watching it. It's unforgivable that he didn't know the seconded biggest ranking event on the calendar was being played in the town he lived in. Everybody with a passing interest should know. Is there anybody in Sheffield who doesn't know when the snooker is being played?
Just to put this into perspective, I'd seen several posters around town advertising that The Krankies were in pantomime in Wolverhampton. Not one thing about the snooker.
Snooker have improved a lot under Hearn, but I'm not sure this is particularly being addressed. Getting people into the "lesser" tournaments. Don't expect people to search out where the tournament is. Let them know.