The 2004/05 World Snooker schedule includes eight world ranking tournaments, plus the Masters at Wembley, and World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker revealed that several of the tournament slots on the schedule could take place overseas.
Sir Rodney said: “One of the most exciting aspects of snooker at the moment is the growing worldwide interest. We are in the final stages of negotiation about a ranking tournament in China, and we are currently talking to two other countries about staging events.
“China is a massive market. For example this September there will be a Chinese Challenge Match, co-sponsored by Volkswagen, broadcast to 300 million homes in China. Major internet firm Sohu.com are also launching a Chinese language website.
“There is enormous interest in our sport in this country, as the very large television viewing figures show. Our running costs are now under control and our commercial team is working hard to create new initiatives. Now is the perfect time to look at expanding snooker into other countries and we believe this will bring valuable economic benefits to the sport and to the players.”
Sohu.com has set up a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, dedicated snooker website for the Chinese market. They have 250 million hits a day and 18 million subscribers. The Nasdaq quoted company has tie-ups with clients such as Disney, NBA, ATP and Formula One.
