(Kind of) sticky question : do snooker players earn enough/too much/too little money?

[mirocri]

May I tell/remind you what top players have already earned ? Look here ( the figures after the 2004 World Championship ) :

Stephen Hendry MBE - 7 567 686
Steve Davis OBE - 5 235 103
Jimmy White MBE - 4 458 339
Ronnie O'Sullivan - 4 238 510
John Higgins - 3 629 527
Mark J. Williams MBE - 3 211 732
John Parrott -3 066 050
Ken Doherty - 2 940 361
Peter Ebdon - 2 246 195
Alan McManus - 1 859 267
James Wattana - 1 725 908
Dennis Taylor - 1 491 833

[Redguy1986]

If that is what I think it is they have a great salary to have. I would say the time they put in I would that is a fair salary.

[mirocri]

I've added a poll so feel free and welcome to vote !

[Sonny]

Compared to other sports they fall way behind. If you win every tournament then you are going to make a decent wage but that is only for the select few.

Does anyone have a list of what the world champion has received in prize money since the Crucible started hosting it? It would be interesting to see the figures.

[GreenBaize]

I think at present the prize money is good for the top players but for the lower ranked players its a struggle !!
the thing is if players are on the main tour they will have to treat the game as a full time job putting hour after hour of practice , this means its very hard to have a normal job as well , so they will rely on making their living from prize money and exhibitions .
I think some sort of prize money system should be brought in to give everyone a basic wage ,
eg. Basic wage:
players ranked between 96-65 would get a basic wage of £20,000
players ranked between 64-33 would get £30,000
players ranked between 32-17 would get £40,000
top 16 players would get £50,000

still use the points system as it is, but as players reach target points they get bonuses , so players performing well get the benifits of gaining extra money .
you could still give the winner of each event a big prize bonus.

[mirocri]

I think at present the prize money is good for the top players but for the lower ranked players its a struggle !!
the thing is if players are on the main tour they will have to treat the game as a full time job putting hour after hour of practice , this means its very hard to have a normal job as well , so they will rely on making their living from prize money and exhibitions .
I think some sort of prize money system should be brought in to give everyone a basic wage ,
eg. Basic wage:
players ranked between 96-65 would get a basic wage of £20,000
players ranked between 64-33 would get £30,000
players ranked between 32-17 would get £40,000
top 16 players would get £50,000

still use the points system as it is, but as players reach target points they get bonuses , so players performing well get the benifits of gaining extra money .
you could still give the winner of each event a big prize bonus.

Not a bad idea at all. Think that in 1927, all Joe Davis got for the world title was... 6 pounds !...

[GreenBaize]

Not a bad idea at all. Think that in 1927, all Joe Davis got for the world title was... 6 pounds !...

the way snooker has gone all the rewards go to the very top players ..,
for the other 80 odd players on the main tour it is hard to make a living ,
just look at the career earnings for some of the players ! some pro's have been plugging away for years and only have managed to earn about £150,000 over 10 years !! thats below average wage and they have expenses to pay out of that ..
just think if players are paid a wage rather than prize money it will sort its self out . Bonus incentives for points !!!

[mirocri]

Even for top-32 players life is not always easy. Look at that ( painful, I'm sure, to give and quite painful to read too ) interview of CHRIS SMALL ( "The Scotsman", January 29 ) : "My head has been mashed up this season because of the health problems and I keep wondering how am I going to get myself out of this situation.

"I could give up snooker tomorrow - and I’ve felt like it at times - but what else can I do?

"I’ve got a wife and family to support and a mortgage to pay. And even though I will probably suffer later in life because of the ‘jags’, I’ve just got to keep battling on. Maybe in a few years I will find a treatment that is not harming my body."

The injections of steroids are to help ease the discomfort caused by his degenerative spinal disease ankylosing spondylitis.

"The jags work but I’ve been warned that they are thinning my bones and will eventually pay the consequences," continued Small.

However, I haven’t got a choice if I want to keep on playing."

[Peter-d]

I haven't been vocal at all on oll these discussion, because outside Hendry ans O'Sullivan, I don't really know any of the pros. Being in america, it's hard to view the tournaments on television (the fact that I don't have cable doesn't help ). But I just thought this last post interesting because the company i work for has a new novel drug for ankylosing spondylitis. But In don't know much about it, I'm pretty removed from all the drug making and marketing process. It could still be in trial phase for all I know.
I hope for him that his doctor will learn about it and recommend it.

[mirocri]

Does anyone have a list of what the world champion has received in prize money since the Crucible started hosting it? It would be interesting to see the figures.

I have these figures from Clive Everton's THE EMBASSY BOOK OF WORLD SNOOKER, but the last year the author stops at is 1993 ! Well, better than nothing ! Here you are :

1976 : RAY REARDON – 3 500 pounds( runner-up : ALEX HIGGINS – 2 000 )
1977 : JOHN SPENCER – 6 000 ( CLIFF THORBURN – 2 000 )
1978 : RAY REARDON – 7 500 ( PERRIE MANS – 3 500 )
1979 : TERRY GRIFFITHS – 10 000 ( DENNIS TAYLOR – 5 000 )
1980 : CLIFF THORBURN – 15 000 ( ALEX HIGGINS – 7 500 )
1981 : STEVE DAVIS – 20 000 ( DOUG MOUNTJOY – 10 000 )
1982 : ALEX HIGGINS – 25 000 ( RAY REARDON – 12 500 )
1983 : STEVE DAVIS – 30 000 ( CLIFF THORBURN – 15 000 )
1984 : STEVE DAVIS – 44 000 ( JIMMY WHITE – 22 000 )
1985 : DENNIS TAYLOR – 60 000 ( STEVE DAVIS – 35 000 )
1986 : JOE JOHNSON – 70 000 ( STEVE DAVIS – 42 000 )
1987 : STEVE DAVIS – 80 000 ( JOE JOHNSON – 48 000 )
1988 : STEVE DAVIS – 95 000 ( TERRY GRIFFITHS – 57 000 )
1989 : STEVE DAVIS – 105 000 ( JOHN PARROTT – 63 000 )
1990 : STEPHEN HENDRY – 120 000 ( JIMMY WHITE – 72 000 )
1991 : JOHN PARROTT – 135 000 ( JIMMY WHITE – 80 000 )
1992 : STEPHEN HENDRY – 150 000 ( JIMMY WHITE – 90 000 )
1993 : STEPHEN HENDRY – 175 000 ( JIMMY WHITE – 105 000 )

[Phired]

Wanted to enter into the poll but it seems to be closed.

[Sonny]

Yeah, and 3 people who voted don't know what they're talking about!

[reverse_side]

Could we have another Poll on the Index screen now this one has been running quite a while?

Maybe

1. Whether it's right for tobacco sponsorship to be banned by the Government? or
2. Which element of a snooker player is most important, or
3. What will the highest break be in the EWC05, or
4. Which Pro would people want to play a frame with, or
5. How many hours of snooker do you play each week, or
6. Favourite ex-players
7. Would you watch Junior Pot Black if it was brought back, or
8. Most snooker played in a day (Hours or Frames; excluding Snookerthons!)

(Sonny, and we know who they are too! Click any of the totals)

[reverse_side]

?
..........

[Snooker Rocks!]

Even for top-32 players life is not always easy. Look at that ( painful, I'm sure, to give and quite painful to read too ) interview of CHRIS SMALL ( "The Scotsman", January 29 ) : "My head has been mashed up this season because of the health problems and I keep wondering how am I going to get myself out of this situation.

"I could give up snooker tomorrow - and I’ve felt like it at times - but what else can I do?

"I’ve got a wife and family to support and a mortgage to pay. And even though I will probably suffer later in life because of the ‘jags’, I’ve just got to keep battling on. Maybe in a few years I will find a treatment that is not harming my body."

The injections of steroids are to help ease the discomfort caused by his degenerative spinal disease ankylosing spondylitis.

"The jags work but I’ve been warned that they are thinning my bones and will eventually pay the consequences," continued Small.

However, I haven’t got a choice if I want to keep on playing."

I just found this post, and it reinforces the point that some snooker players just don't earn enough (it was post 8 of the thread by the way).