Snooker is a pretty classy sport which is displayed by the ‘uniform’ that players are required to wear during tournaments. On these uniforms it’s very easy to see a number of logos presented on their waistcoats. These relate to the sponsorship arrangements players have with these companies and are effectively like a business transaction. I mean, who can forget Judd Trump and Burger King. Name a more iconic duo; I’ll wait.
Effectively, players are approached by these companies – in the context of snooker, these are most likely betting companies – and they offer players benefits such as paying for travel, tournament fees, and sometimes providing free products or equipment. In exchange, players must proudly display the company’s logos on their clothes for all to see. Since a lot of events are televised, this is a huge advertising stint which these companies are backing on to boost their commercial growth.
For those in the upper echelon, it’s quite easy to get approached for sponsorships deals. Generally, the players that are frequently in televised (major) events or constantly in the snooker headlines will have a larger selection of opportunities to choose from. Having sponsorship/brand deals can help relieve some of the financial pressures associated with the sport. Click here to read more about the costs of being a snooker player. However, not all are fortunate or in the position to have sponsorship deals come to them.
A lot of young players/those starting out tend to look for sponsorship opportunities and they are the ones approaching various companies as opposed to the other way round. Although, like stated earlier, it is very much like a business transaction in how these deals are completed.
No business is just going to offer sponsorship and money without getting something in return. The player requesting sponsorship will need to be able to add some kind of value to the business which will improve their position commercially. For example, if the player has a large social media following or has a steadily increasing TV presence, it would be useful for the business to stick their logo on this player.
It’s not just the players that can benefit from sponsorships. Most events in World Snooker also do business with various companies to sponsor tournaments. A significant number of tournaments will have a sponsoring tournament pre-fixed to the name of the event. Examples include the Dafabet Masters, Betway UK Championship, Kaspersky Riga Masters, Coral Cup series and who could forget the legendary, former ‘Embassy World Championship’ where a commentator would be struck down by Thor himself if he did not mention the word Embassy when saying the World Championship.
It’s pretty much a win-win for those involved in a brand deal as players are aided in the financial costs of snooker while World Snooker are able to put the money they get from these deals into allocating a higher prize fund for that selected tournament. Then of course, there’s the advertising for the businesses involved. But what I think is done well with snooker is that these ‘plugs’ are not obnoxious in the way social media brand deals are done where they are ‘in your face’. I mean, how much Fit Tea can one person possibly want?