Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry were delighted with the BBC’s announcement that it will continue to broadcast snooker’s three most prestigious tournaments.
The BBC has agreed a five-year extension to its current agreement with the World Snooker Tour (WST). That means the Triple Crown – made up of the World Championship, UK Championship and the Masters – will remain free-to-air until 2032.
The highly-popular announcement came during the Masters final between Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy. The match at Alexandra Palace ended with the latter sealing his second Masters title against the world champion, with a 10-7 victory.
Presenter Hazel Irvine made the bombshell announcement live on air while the scores were 6-3, saying: “I have some news to bring you because we’re absolutely thrilled to announce tonight that the BBC has extended its contract for broadcast rights for the Triple Crown events until 2032, which is wonderful news.”
She added: “It means you will be able to see these brilliant and dramatic events on terrestrial television free-to-air at least for the next seven years,” before turning to pundits Davis and Hendry.
Irvine said: “Guys, that means it’s one of the longest-standing partnerships in sports broadcasting. It’s a remarkable deal and I think it’s wonderful from a fan’s perspective that they’ve got access on free-to-air television. What’s your reaction first of all?”
Hendry – an 18-time Triple Crown champion – replied: “It’s fantastic news. I mean I grew up watching snooker in the beginning on BBC and to see it carry on is fantastic for the fans who love to watch snooker.”
Davis – a six-time world champion – echoed those sentiments by saying: “It is fantastic news, it shows you how popular it’s been in the UK but I think one of the reasons also is how big it’s getting worldwide now. Who’s to say that one day it doesn’t make the Olympics?”
Last year, BBC Sport’s coverage of the Triple Crown events had 33.9million streams across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website, and more than 16million tuning in on TV.
BBC Sport’s rights portfolio also includes the Olympic Games, the FA Cup, women’s Euro 2025, men’s Euro 2028, Women’s Super League (WSL), the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, Wimbledon Championships, Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, men’s and women’s Six Nations and Match of the Day.
In a statement, WST chairman Steve Dawson said: “For more than 50 years we have had an outstanding relationship with the BBC, and their coverage of the Triple Crown is a fundamental part of those three events. Millions of fans love watching snooker on the BBC and it has always been vital to us to keep the biggest tournaments free-to-air.”
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