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Ssb - playing the long game
The glass half empty brigade had a field day yesterday following a poor crowd turnout for the first session of the Brazil Masters.
Literally within minutes of the tournament starting the internet was telling us all the things that had been done wrong and all the places snooker should go to instead of Brazil.
In the age in which we live, perspective plays second place to opinion.
Not for me. I'd like to see the viewing figures at the end of the tournament before deciding whether it has been a success or not.
Ticket sales were never going to be high. This is a private promotion by a Brazilian company who had originally planned to stage the tournament in bustling Sao Paulo but moved it to Santa Catarina, an exclusive resort miles from anywhere.
It is safe to assume a shedload of tourism cash persuaded them this was a good idea.
You see, promoters like to make a return. It's this thing called business.
This was nothing to do with World Snooker but if you've read the September issue of Snooker Scene you will know that Barry Hearn is going to Brazil to "have a chat" with the promoters about a few aspects of the tournament.
It would certainly make more sense to play it in one of Brazil's big cities - if it is economically viable.
Clearly ticket prices are too high, although crowds improved for Igor Figueiredo's match against Jamie Cope last night.
However, as in most things, history tells us that all this is nothing new.
I was reminded that the first year of the first ranking event in Germany failed to bring out the crowds to such an extent that John Parrott was moved to comment: "I was put off by a crowd disturbance. She moved."
Similarly, the early Chinese events struggled to pull anyone through the door - not that that's ever been the sole indicator of the success of a tournament in any case.
We've had one day of professional snooker in Brazil. It's a bit early to write off an entire market just because it hasn't all been perfect so far.
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Literally within minutes of the tournament starting the internet was telling us all the things that had been done wrong and all the places snooker should go to instead of Brazil.
In the age in which we live, perspective plays second place to opinion.
Not for me. I'd like to see the viewing figures at the end of the tournament before deciding whether it has been a success or not.
Ticket sales were never going to be high. This is a private promotion by a Brazilian company who had originally planned to stage the tournament in bustling Sao Paulo but moved it to Santa Catarina, an exclusive resort miles from anywhere.
It is safe to assume a shedload of tourism cash persuaded them this was a good idea.
You see, promoters like to make a return. It's this thing called business.
This was nothing to do with World Snooker but if you've read the September issue of Snooker Scene you will know that Barry Hearn is going to Brazil to "have a chat" with the promoters about a few aspects of the tournament.
It would certainly make more sense to play it in one of Brazil's big cities - if it is economically viable.
Clearly ticket prices are too high, although crowds improved for Igor Figueiredo's match against Jamie Cope last night.
However, as in most things, history tells us that all this is nothing new.
I was reminded that the first year of the first ranking event in Germany failed to bring out the crowds to such an extent that John Parrott was moved to comment: "I was put off by a crowd disturbance. She moved."
Similarly, the early Chinese events struggled to pull anyone through the door - not that that's ever been the sole indicator of the success of a tournament in any case.
We've had one day of professional snooker in Brazil. It's a bit early to write off an entire market just because it hasn't all been perfect so far.
More...
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