International sports broadcaster Eurosport has signed a 10-year extension to its European rights agreement to show 18 tournaments of the World Snooker Tour on its television channels and Eurosport Player, its live and on-demand digital service.
The agreement with World Snooker and the IMG agency includes the showpiece World Snooker Championship, the 2016 edition of which is currently taking place in Sheffield, England, and runs from the 2016-17 to 2025-26 seasons.
The events will be shown exclusively on Eurosport in 54 markets across Europe. In the UK, four of the tournaments will be shown, but not exclusively. They are the World Championship, Masters, UK Championship and Welsh Open. The rights to the Players Championship and the World Grand Prix do not include the UK.
Eurosport first broadcast snooker in 2003 and the long-term, multi-platform agreement includes the exclusive coverage in markets outside the UK of the inaugural ‘Home Nations Series’ comprised of the Welsh Open, Scottish Open, Irish Open and English Open.
In addition to the live action, fans will be offered insight from leading players and personalities within the game through special programming. There will also be enhanced match coverage on Eurosport Player, where fans will be able to choose which matches to watch from cameras covering multiple tables.
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn said: “This long-term deal with Eurosport is a very significant moment for our sport. Eurosport has played a crucial role in the rapid growth of snooker across the continent over the past 13 years, making it one of the most popular and highest-rating sports in the region.
“The players are now travelling to many corners of the continent and seeing a new-found passion among fans who might not have even heard of snooker until they saw it on Eurosport. We’re excited about continuing this growth over the coming decade, staging new events in the UK and around Europe, and working alongside the Eurosport team in building ever stronger foundations.”