Wuhan Open Signals Snooker’s Return To China

Ahead of this weekend’s Wuhan Open, we caught up with Tom Rowell, WST Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, to discuss what a return to China means for the sport.

How has the WST season gone so far?

Very well, we have introduced four major Chinese events to the calendar, returning there for the first time since Covid. There are major projects underway to launch a new website and app in early 2024, and a significant rebrand nearing completion which will transform the way we position the sport across all touchpoints.

The early results have been very strong. Early ticket sales are 20% above target and growth in our social channels has been sizeable. Importantly our broadcast figures have also seen marked improvements, for the Shanghai Masters on Eurosport the average audience was up 52%, compared to the same tournament in 2019, while the peak audience for the week was up 31%.

What does it mean for the WST to be returning to China in 2023?

It is a significant return for the sport. We are the World Snooker Tour which means we need to be on a global stage and China is clearly a huge territory to be in. It brings considerable prize money which is fantastic to all the players on the tour and the revenues it generates for WST allow us to continue our ambitious expansion plans.

There was the ‘dry run’ of the Shanghai Masters last month, anything in particular that you learnt from that event?

As has been the case in the past, Shanghai is a spectacular event on the calendar and always generates significant interest in the sport. The event is very well run with a strong emphasis on the glamour and prestige elements of the sport, the players are really treated excellently, and the fans are fantastic as is the case across all of China.

In terms of learnings, it just continues to remind us how big the potential of the sport is in the Asia region, whilst we are doing a great job we can never get complacent and must continue to capitalise on the demand.

Similarly, how does putting on an event in China differ to the UK?

We work with promoters in China who will do the majority of the logistical work. We provide support on the ground via our China-based team and we will send a travelling media contingent to cover the event. The complex nature of the market has created the necessity for this working model but maybe in future we can advance to the stage that we are running the entirety of events in China.

How does the partnership with Red Lantern assist with the WST’s goals?

Red Lantern has really enabled us to capitalise on the growing Asian markets. They have a specific focus on China, Thailand, Singapore and India. Creating original native language content and helping us translate interviews and content from our players. The early results have been strong and their specialist knowledge of these complex markets and unique social media platforms will be essential to our growth.

What is the opportunity that exists in China and what’s the strategy to realising it?

It is clearly a huge market for all sports to look to break into, you have seen all other major sports try and gain a foothold into the market with varying degrees of success. We really believe we have the unique ingredients needed to be one of the most successful at achieving this. We have a sport which is highly respected and played in the country, and we have a strong roster of highly competitive Chinese players at all our events which is a vital component for gaining consistent fandom in the country.

The aim is to take these ingredients and continue to build a growing fanbase via a targeted events strategy and regionalised digital content approach. 

What will determine whether the Wuhan Open is deemed a success?

The criteria is usually the same across all of our events, ticket sales, fan feedback surveys, broadcast ratings, player satisfaction feedback and creating a competitive world class sporting event.

For Wuhan, it is the first time we have held an event in the region so that will create a unique set of circumstances, but we have high expectations that we will be able to deliver on all the key criteria.

What personal ambitions do you have in the role?

We have a clear three- and five-year strategy which we have embarked on this season, my personal ambitions are to deliver my elements of this across marketing, communications, and ticketing. We have high growth and financial targets which I find the challenge of highly motivating.

Snooker is a huge sport, that’s not always been reflected in our previous output and that is something I am very focused on changing. A lot of people talk about the ‘80s being the golden era of snooker never to be seen again, and while we might not achieve 18m peak viewers again on BBC I disagree entirely and believe there is huge amount of growth that we are aiming for and will deliver over the coming years.