TSB - The masters gets new title sponsor

[ferret]

Article Source on The Snooker Blog

Snooker’s most prestigious invitation event will be known as the Betfair Masters. Featuring 16 of the world’s leading players, it will run from more .....

[Looki]

This is good news. B. Hearn has really made his mark in finding sponsors for the tournaments. The Masters seems to attract sponsors even if O'Sullivan isn't playing. It is great to see that sponsors have wider perception than some fans do.

[PatBlock]

Yet another deal ratcheting up our over-reliance on the gambling industry. Not good, on so many levels.

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[SnookerFan]

It's still better than when we had no sponsors though.

[alex_5525]

Lol to be fair, snooker was sponsored by embassy for 30 yrs.....

[PatBlock]

It's still better than when we had no sponsors though.

And how did we end up in such a position?

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[jonnylovessn8ker]

I wonder when I will see the day when a major tournament in EU or UK is sponsored by Red Bull, Aston Martin, Virgin, or a UK/EU financial institution like Coutts, Barclays, Rothschild, Lloyds, Credit Suisse...

[DeanH]

I wonder when I will see the day when a major tournament in EU or UK is sponsored by Red Bull, Aston Martin, Virgin, or a UK/EU financial insitution like Coutts, Barlclays, Rothschild, Lloyds, Credit Suisse...

well there was the Lada Classic

[Gerry Armstrong]

I wonder when I will see the day when a major tournament in EU or UK is sponsored by Red Bull, Aston Martin, Virgin, or a UK/EU financial insitution like Coutts, Barlclays, Rothschild, Lloyds, Credit Suisse...

Yeah, much rather have a big name bank than a bookies becasue banks don't gamble do they?

[Terry Davidson]

Gerry:

I hope that is a sarcastic comment as banks are the biggest gamblers of all although they do have the back-up of your tax money bailouts from the government

Terry

[DeanH]

Terry, I have a feeling that Gerry was in major sarcastic mode there

[ferret]

The biggest problem for sponsors is that Snooker is just not value for money but for a betting sponsor it is as they will either make their money back or make their money back plus a little on top where a bank or car company sponsoring a event would not make a penny, how many of you would go out and purchase a car just because they sponsor a Snooker event or open a bank account just because a bank is the title sponsor?

Even the players find it hard getting sponsors these days and it is because nobody really takes any notice of the patches, we have sponsored players and never really got anything back form it, even when the patches have been on the tv I can not even measure a increase in hits to the site.

Going back just a few years ago players could get 60k+ for a seasons patch deal but I know one player last season sold his patch for just £50 for a event! when the title sponsor is a betting company the players can not sell their patch to another betting company which caused a few rows when BetFred.com first took over the world championships, yes this does not help players as they can get a good price from a betting company but when was the last event they could do this at?

From what I have heard this years world championships will be sponsored by a non-betting firm......... which will be interesting to see how many players secure betting patches as the sponsor will not be announced as always until the week before at the launch at The RAC club in London.

[Gerry Armstrong]

I currently earn my living at a bank - I'll leave you to join the remaining dots yourself...

[SnookerFan]

And how did we end up in such a position?

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No, I understand the point you were making. And I don't think we should put all our eggs in one basket. (What if advertising of gambling suddenly becomes illegal.) But, it's a small steps at a time thing. We're not going to go from having nobody sponsor us, to massive multinational companies falling over themselves to get involved. Barry Hearn has a lot of connections in the gambling industry from sponsorship deals from other sporting events, so why not use them in our time of need? Hopefully in four or five years we'll have lots of other companies sponsoring events, from a wide range of industries.

Whatever happened to Pukka Pies anyway? I thought they were a pretty good sponsor. They sent the Pukka Pies band down to Telford.

[SnookerFan]

The biggest problem for sponsors is that Snooker is just not value for money but for a betting sponsor it is as they will either make their money back or make their money back plus a little on top where a bank or car company sponsoring a event would not make a penny, how many of you would go out and purchase a car just because they sponsor a Snooker event or open a bank account just because a bank is the title sponsor?

Even the players find it hard getting sponsors these days and it is because nobody really takes any notice of the patches, we have sponsored players and never really got anything back form it, even when the patches have been on the tv I can not even measure a increase in hits to the site.

Going back just a few years ago players could get 60k+ for a seasons patch deal but I know one player last season sold his patch for just £50 for a event! when the title sponsor is a betting company the players can not sell their patch to another betting company which caused a few rows when BetFred.com first took over the world championships, yes this does not help players as they can get a good price from a betting company but when was the last event they could do this at?

From what I have heard this years world championships will be sponsored by a non-betting firm......... which will be interesting to see how many players secure betting patches as the sponsor will not be announced as always until the week before at the launch at The RAC club in London.

That's the problem. That's why gambling companies are such a big sponsor of sports. Because they can set up booths at events, and people can put a bit of money on different events. There's been one at the Crucible for yonks now, and Ladbrookes have had one at The Masters for a few years.

I think they want to look into alcohol sponsorship and the snackfood industry. Partly because I'm a fat-arse, but mainly because they'd be able to sell stuff like that at venues. It might depend on how the venue bar thinks about the advertising of alcohol obviously. But going back to what I said before about Pukka Pies, I tried one for the first time at Telford because they were the sponsor of the tournament, and they were on sale there.

People are more likely to buy a snack, beer or a soft drink if it's the title sponsor than they are say razor blades.