Selling: Snooker
Lets get the Retailer back on the Baize
With attempts by Barry Hearn and World Snooker to improve the profile of the game, there may be an opportunity for retailers to profit. Alex Fordham talks to Andrew Baker of BCE.
T
he 21st century has given rise to a new generation of sports fans wanting fast paced entertainment. The success of Twenty20 cricket and the Prizefighter boxing tournaments have prompted snooker chief Barry Hearn to attempt to modernise the game and engage with a younger audience domestically and abroad.
Initiatives have included the scheduling of snooker events around the world from Brazil to China and establishing ‘Power Snooker’, a quicker, more innovative form of the game. TV coverage of the sport is also being increased with an extended partnership with IMG and Eurosport
to televise snooker into 2016.
BCE has been quick to try and act upon Snooker’s attempts to appeal to younger audiences by signing world number 1 Mark Selby onto their books and this September saw the launch of Riley’s Mark Selby Signature Cue Series range.
According to Stuart Lacey, Managing Director of BCE, “Snooker needs excitement and Mark has been involved in some of the most exciting matches in recent years. I couldn’t believe his comeback in the Masters Final when he was 9-6 down to Ronnie O’ Sullivan and came back to win 10-9. It’s this ‘no surrender’ attitude that is winning over fans and no doubt his products will sell well.”
The expansion into China is high on the agenda for BCE. The next few weeks will see the release of the new Elegance range made from exotic ebonese wood. These cues will retail between £400-£500 and early demand is high. “As a population, the Chinese are very brand aware. As an established brand, we are in an excellent position to make real inroads into the Chinese market. Early orders for the Elegance have been good” says BCE’s Andrew Baker. “This market won’t be huge in the UK but the Elegance may have some potential here with some snooker players looking for an exclusive high quality product.”
BCE are also shortly releasing a new range in Kamui tips that are proven to last longer and hold more chalk, lessening the chance of getting that dreaded ‘kick’.
Baker believes that new initiatives offer the retailer opportunities to profit from snooker. “There are some retailers who are sceptical of the profitability of snooker. However, these are generally shops who stock the same products year in year out and then complain that snooker is not selling.”
“Those who are embracing new products and new product technology are finding sales to be
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Mark Selby
on par with last year and in some case actually improving. Considering the tough conditions we have encountered, that is no mean feat.” Will snooker return to the glory days of the sport when millions tuned in to witness Dennis Taylor triumph over Steve Davis in the 1985 World Final? It seems unlikely due to the saturated nature of the sporting market with every sport trying to appeal to the younger generation.
Despite this, retailers should not disregard snooker as a viable means of generating income especially with the festive period approaching.
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