The "World Series" will start with four events in 2008 and has scheduled growth to 8/10 events by 2010. The series will open in Poland in June 2008 and will then travel to Jersey and Russia with the fourth venue in central Europe to be announced soon.
Its format will be invitational and the events will gather the world's best players from the top 20, occasional wild cards as well as local players. John Higgins, the 2007 World Champion said: "After I won the World Championship I was determined to capitalise on this by developing Professional Snooker into regions where we know it is popular. We spent the summer visiting countries such as Russia, the Middle and Far East and also ran a pilot event in Warsaw, Poland. I could not believe how popular the game was in these regions and have to say I was over the moon to find myself being recognised and signing autographs on the streets of Moscow."
“This new Series will complement the Ranking Events run by World Snooker, and hopefully will pave the way for the expansion of Professional Snooker internationally. The support from the players and management as well as the enthusiasm and energy they have shown in assisting the development of the Series has been fantastic” said Pat Mooney, CEO of FSTC Sports Management.
"We will be taking an attractive and stylish festival of Snooker to each of some of the most prestigious locations in the world and will be working exceptionally hard to give our sponsors and commercial partners the type of product and hospitality they deserve from such a high profile sport." he adds.
"Snooker has a long tradition on Eurosport! With 300 hours of coverage every year, we are proud to have contributed to the development of its popularity throughout Europe. We believe in the potential of this high profile sport and we are delighted to collaborate and support this project with top experts like John Higgins and Pat Mooney" says Jacques Béhar, President and CEO of Eurosport Events.
"The launch of this new Series also marks an important step for the development of Eurosport Events as it deepens our multisport expertise and extends our portfolio comprised today of international events in motorsports, equestrianism and sailing."
Eurosport Events will be responsible for the expansion of this series. It will be the licensing agent handling the international distribution of worldwide media rights (including TV rights) and will also manage the sale of the marketing rights and international communications.
The Snooker World Series will receive extensive TV coverage including live transmissions on Eurosport, Europe's n°1 sports TV channel reaching over 112 millions homes across 59 countries, completed by extensive coverage on Eurosport Asia, Eurosportnews and eurosport.com.
