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I did hear Dave Hendon on the Snooker Podcast call for Steve to do some interviews. It's good to know WST is listening! That was a good interview, Stephen.
agree with @martinlaird9712. he's just protecting his own job.. Interview not good, was it just me who could see Barry Hearn standing behind him when he was answering.. The sport will be in big trouble in 10yr time if Matchroom keeps calling all the shots, yes the sport was on its knees when Barry took over but its still on life support machine and faster Barry stops patting himself on his own back the better.
I think what people, including the chairman of the sport, are missing about the Crucible is the unique challenge that venue presents to the players. It's effectively two venues, and never anything less than a bull pit. In the opening rounds, you're close enough to touch the crowd on most shots. Then, it opens up into the one table format and it's a completely different venue. It creates an atmosphere you can't find anywhere else. You take that from the World Championship and you lose something from snooker. You can't just put any event there and achieve the same effect.
Steve seems like a really decent guy and intelligent, no doubt, but I have doubts about whether he is the right person to steer the ship and take the professional game to the next level. It was always going to be a hard act to follow after Barry Hearn but I think the position needs to be held by someone who is actually passionate about the game and not just purely from a business perspective.
I agree. Eddie has even been asked before, but he's said his heart isn't in it like it is in boxing. And says exactly the same' you need to be passionate about it.
@@itnaklipse1669 With respect, you've missed the point entirely. Having the business nous to run and promote a professional sport is a necessary but insufficient condition if you, like me, want the game to continue to progress. Barry Hearn's motivation was stimulated by the combination of business objectives that were set and his love for snooker and its history, exemplified by keeping the world championship at the Crucible Theatre whilst growing the game across Europe and Asia.
@@ross8917 just to answer your last point, if you haven't noticed, they've been prepping the public for years now to move WC out of Crucible. plans have most likely already been made long ago - the idea simply has to be marketed to the public. that's why there's the gentle yes/no pros/cons debate that's been going on for a while now. but also i think a lot of people would agree with me that sports is not business, and should not really be run like business. first and foremost, snooker should be kept as snooker and not co-opted for someone's vision of how to make more money out of it - and that's exactly what Barry has done. that's not love of snooker, that's love of it as a utiility. all his ideas compromise the game further for sake of marketabiilty. people like Barry suck the soul out of anything they touch.
Love that Hendry is putting Dawson on the spot especially regarding promotion market of events and gates! May have done this to save some face for WST, but the cracks are there and they will only get bigger in the next few seasons if things don’t change for the better…
There's never any debate about bringing broadcasting to the Americas or maybe a couple of tournaments. I live in Canada and finding a way to watch a match is like pulling teeth.
I suspect snooker doesn't have enough glitz and glitter for a US audience - you only have to look at the amount F1 was cheapened to appeal to a US audience in Vegas and Miami to see the amount of style over substance required!
The only way Snooker is going to grow to a point where the top players get their venues, prize money and media interest is with a breakaway league. It needs its 1992 Premier League moment in time. There is such a huge gap between the top 10-16 players in the world and the rest it's insane. Players outside the top 16 spend so much time in leisure centers qualifying with limited TV and live audience that it virtually ensures they inevitably buckle under the pressure once they do qualify. There has to be a secondary tour for those players where they can grow their own following in events that they have opportunities to actually better themselves and earn some money in the process. The main tour should have big commercial partners to grow the prize pool, venues and TV rights to supplement the second tier tour whilst providing an avenue for the best second tier players to earn their right to be on the main tour. It's impossible for 99% of the professional players to market themselves, get better and earn a decent living when they're spending most of their time playing in dark and dingy leisure centers to qualify. The tour needs its own venues because for the most part they're just not good enough or exciting enough for the top players. The tour really is a shambles from venues, promotional work, the website (when it works), structure, TV coverage or lack thereof. I've been watching Snooker for 35+ years and there hasn't been anywhere near enough investment in the sport to push it forward. Oh, and can we please get rid of best of 7's - Snooker is a long-form game and it should remain as such.
I genuinely don't mean to sound confrontational, but lets be realistic - there would be Zero interest in a breakaway league from media or players The 1992 premier league thing you mentioned occurred because of a sport that was stuck in the 70s and wasn't growing - Snooker probably wouldnt exist as a professional sport had Barry not taken it over as it was on its knees, so its fanciful to think players could set up a rival tour and do a better job than a company whose sole job is sports promotions. As for the gap between the top 16 and the rest - I think many forget just how poor the tour was outside the top players 20 or 30 years ago - Stephen Hendry and many other top players are on record as saying the standard has never been higher and the gaps between the top and the bottom of the tour has never been smaller, so unless you know better than a 7 times champion, I'll tend to take Stephens word for that one! I think the issue you refer to is more a consequence of the draw format where those at the bottom of the 128 often get drawn against the top players and get thrashed - thats not unique to snooker and is often a consequence of lack of experience rather than talent. The simple solution as John Parrot has suggested is to split the draws so 128 plays 64 and so on so that it gives lower ranked players a change to develop before facing the top 16. Its easy saying snooker should have big commercial partners....do you think that hasn't occurred to Matchroom - they are quite obviously trying to do this - and partnering with the likes of Cazoo is a good move for them to lessen the dependence on betting companies When it comes to players marketing themselves - thats up to the players as much as the sport....no one is stopping them having a presence on social media and when snooker is on TV, the camera spends 95% of the time fixed on the table, so whether that table is in a leisure center or in Buckingham palace it wont make a bit of difference to the marketability of a player down the rankings if they are dull to watch. Its the players personalities and above all their playing style that gets them noticed. As for your point on lack of TV coverage - the vast majority of the entire tour outside of the PTC's is covered by Eurosport, BBC and ITV....how exactly does it lack TV coverage? And the best of 7's....I dont love them either..... but they exist precisely for TV coverage and to enable them to have tournaments with flat draws while getting through the matches required in a reasonable timeframe.....in a world where attention spans for media is measured in seconds, and exclusively long form sport will only ever be niche. Traditional TV audiences are dwindling fast, and you wont attract them with 4 or 5 hours matches no matter how much that may appeal to us old school fans.
Well done to Steve Dawson for doing this (and WST/Stephen). The more WST explain, discuss and reach out the better. Facts, open dialogue, some honesty and evidence help to quash rumour. Yes, this is a bit late, and some of the information here should have been explained to fans and others earlier. But this type of interview should be a regular one.
@@gordoncockfield just saying ya could be a bit more thankful. He took it when nobody else wanted it or could run it. People just want want want but don’t understand commercial value
It just occurred seeing all those pros on the red carpet… Stephen has achieved more in terms of ranking titles records persona etc than not only any other of those playsrs… but i cant see anyone achieving what Stephen did within a 10 year span like he did… let alone outside of that. What a winner, what a humble legend, would kill to see him lift a title again, if not i have youtube to thank for watching the ultimate 90’s gold sports era that Stephen was apart of. Pure 🐐
@@user-ir5hb5xe4v You can only beat who's in front of you - it's not his fault who his opposition was. It's like Phil Taylor in darts - he was averaging 100+ when his opponents were averaging in the high 80s. Who's to say that either wouldn't have raised their game in their prime had their opponents pushed them more?
The Crucible cannot be replaced. Even the few players that think another larger venue is a good idea for the world championship all say the Crucible theatre is still where the quarters, semis and final should be played...because it is the historical home of snooker, it has a unique vibe and atmosphere they thrive on and without it the world championship will just end up feeling like any other generic tournament. This is BAD BAD decision even by airhead businessmen who care about nothing but squeezing everything to death for more and more quick profits for themselves. A larger venue could easily be used for all the earlier round matches, gaining much more crowds for them all. But the final stages of the tournament should NEVER be removed from The Crucible Theatre. Do that and you harm the sport irreparably. The massive difference in atmosphere in most new tournaments now is blatantly obvious even to audience members. They feel cold, sterile, unwelcoming, online gambling adverts, all about getting people in and out, selling more and more tickets and the result is a flat, sterile atmosphere with no soul and a really tacky looking arena.
Snooker players need to do more at local clubs, not top 16, but the rest of the 'pyramid' 2k for a evening with a player is ridiculous when snooker clubs are disappearing daily. The lower ranked players then earn a days money, snooker clubs profit, people see the sport upclose again in relaxed atmosphere, players get a practise against the local club best.
@@PointNemo9you can't make them care if you don't try, they love 9 ball, they love american football, our football is getting recognised out there now so can snooker
it's extemely sad to realize that such a wonderful sport heavily depends on foreign markets such as China and potentially ME to survive. every industry needs money, no doubt but somehow i have a feeling that snooker's financial basis is much more fragile than most other sports. granted, it's sort of a niche thing for most but it can at the same time mean the world to few.
I thought Hendry was good putting the questions to him whereas Dawson seemed to be defensive and compared to Hearn, pretty dull to deal with if you're a player. So much more could be done on promoting the smaller events with exhibitions for example and all players, especially the lower ranked ones, should be able to earn outside of the Tour if they can.
Hopefully Hendry plays & schools Judd Trump next week. Hendry leads Judd Trump 10-1 H2H Younger players and guys like Mark Allen now use Judd Trump for cannon fodder. Good luck Stephen 🏆
If this was a true World championship, they should host play-offs or knockouts in each country, and then play the winners. So if they play Australia, and they host the national championships, then the winner gets to be national champion. The UK championship needs to stay in the Crucible, but the World needs to be at the O2, so that tens of thousands can witness a live match, not just the lucky few who managed to get a ticket. Snooker needs to everywhere; from Finland to Dehli, from Las Vegas to Dubai. Monaco to Rio. Do they even go to Canada anymore??
Steve put Stephen on board :D In all honesty miserable venues for qualifiers and leisure centers, create miserable players that are there just pay their bills, and not play to win, so dont expect them to go into Rafael Nadal mode every time they win their first round match
Eight of the last 12 World championships were won by the greatest player of all time GOAT Ronnie O'Sullivan & the second greatest player of all time Mark Selby. They won 4 titles each in the hardest era in snooker history ( 2012-2023) Judd Trump 1 World title 2019 🏆👍
Only way Hendry stays relevant by talking shop. Must have pleaded with Steve to do an interview. Same way he pleaded with Barry to give him a wild card!
Would be great if they made the Crucible tournament the UK, then had the worlds in different countries. I'm sick of the UK having best of 11, make it mean something again.
I like that idea. I think it's good that they started using the same qualification format in the UK as they do in the Worlds but yeah, it's weird that they still have the relatively short best-of-11s all the way up until the final and the final is only a best-of-19 like basically all other finals. But since I doubt that they plan to make the Worlds even bigger with even longer matches, maybe something in between what the UK is now and the Worlds? I would propose best-of-15s for the first couple rounds (could be played over 2 short sessions of 7 and up to 8 frames each without any mid-session intervals) and ramp it up starting in the quarterfinals to like a best-of-27 or best-of-29 or something like that in the final.
He couldn’t answer any question put to him by great Stephen Hendry properly, because he is Barry Hearn’s employee and a "yes man" and has no authority whatsoever in the game. At least start with a decent website for WST, which suppose to be the shop window to the world.
Compared to the way snooker was run or not run in the 90s Matchroom have done a brilliant job. Players will always moan but they should stick to doing what they’re good at and let the professionals in executive positions do what they’re good at
Hopefully Hendry retires! There's levels,and the standard is too high!. The younger greater players s now use Stephen Hendry for cannon fodder. He cant go beyond first round to save his life!
I always see Judd play with 60 % luck,and 40% ability. He hits hard and hope because 6 pockets. When long shots don't go in he is a very average player.We saw how Mark Allen destroyed him 10-3..On the other hand watch how better Ronnie & Hendry play. they are far far better. That's why Ronnie & Hendry are the two greatest and most successful players in snooker.
lol - Are you for real or is this just a poor trolling attempt? Do you actually think one of the sports most successful players who just won 3 titles in a row and went undefeated for 22 matches has done that based on luck?!! By your logic you should be able to beat more than have the pro-tour based on hitting the ball as hard as possible.....which would suggest you've never played snooker in your life or have a loose grasp of the skill it takes to be a pro
@@wrc5557 Took 15 years to win 1 World title. Cant win a 2nd World or 2nd UK title to save his life! Lost 5 of the last 9 finals he played. Should hit the ball harder!
Snooker is not in a healthy position at all, Zero clubs in my area, use to be loads, the game will be lost to china within a small period of time, Stephen brought up a few points about Crowds and locals not knowing about events in the area, unfortunately I felt Steve's reply was quite blind and shows he is not in touch
In terms of sponsorship most of the players with a few exceptions are pretty vacuous people. There isn't a decent personality between the lot of them except O'Sullivan and even he is pretty uninteresting when he opens his mouth. The women's game is even worse, they take boring to whole new levels. There is little to attract sponsors other than TV figures and those will go down once the top 16 is full of emotionless and inscrutable Chinese players.
Alan Mc-My-Anus needs to be taken of eurosport , he is not legible ! WHAT YOU SAYING BOY, at least Hendry can speak some english and half his sentences are understandble ! Some of it is just gibberish but his English is getting slighty better over the years
