FEATURED: My Initial Thoughts On The BetVictor European Series

World Snooker introduced yesterday a brand-new BetVictor European Series. This series will comprise of four already-existing ranking events, with each event receiving a bigger prize fund. The four events are the European Masters, the German Masters, the Snooker Shoot-Out and the Gibraltar Open. This series starts this season, with the first event (the European Masters) held on 20th January 2020. More lucratively, the winner of this series will win an additional bonus of £150,000.

Barry Hearn announced the following on the World Snooker website:

“We are delighted to announce the new BetVictor European Series, a fabulous addition to our tour. The race to win the series and earn a huge bonus of £150,000 adds an extra element of intrigue throughout the four events. Each event is superb in its own right, but the support BetVictor brings takes it all to a new level and ties them together into a distinctive series.“

But there are a number of holes to pick through this intriguing series. As always, Twitter has a plethora of opinion and a number of snooker people have given their views and so far, the series has received a positive response. So what do we all think? Here are some of my views below, at least in a organised and succinct fashion. Regardless of what we think, this is a refreshing and new idea to increase intense competition in the second half of the season. It could increase prestige in the Gibraltar Open and the European Masters. But will it actually help increase support in Continental Europe? Do these events actually deserve to be at another level?

Pros

This series is in the safe and capable hands of BetVictor

BetVictor have been sponsoring snooker events for a good while. It first became a sponsor of a snooker event at the 2013 Welsh Open and continued as a sponsor till 2016. It has continued sponsoring other tournaments, such as the 2018 English Open, 2018 Northern Ireland Open, 2018 Scottish Open and the 2019 Snooker Shoot-Out.

They also have a presence in darts so, something that Barry Hearn is very familiar with, for obvious reasons. BetVictor are incredibly helpful in promoting snooker, adding money to the prize pots. On the same Word Snooker article, Director of Sportsbook at BetVictor, Matt Scarrott, said:

“We have a strong relationship with World Snooker having partnered with them on a number of events and I’m confident that this brand-new series will add to World Snooker’s international success. The global growth in the sport’s popularity is a testament of the fantastic work World Snooker have been developing over recent years, and we’re delighted to be part of this successful journey. We’re particularly proud to see the last of the European Series tournament take place in Gibraltar – home to BetVictor.”

Money, money, money

Yes, it is an obvious point but it has to be said. Again, from the same World Snooker website, here is the lowdown of the amount of money going into the BetVictor Snooker Series:

• European Masters: £80,000 to the winner (up from last season’s £75,000)
• Shoot Out: £50,000 to the winner and £20,000 to the runner-up (up from last season’s £32,000 and £16,000)
• Gibraltar Open: £50,000 to the winner and £20,000 to the runner-up (up from last season’s £25,000 and £12,000)

This will be huge. Not only for the sport but for the players. The Shoot-Out and the Gibraltar Open are brilliant opportunities for lower-ranked players to win some money and much-valued ranking points because they are the events where those at the top of the rankings miss out on. Look at the Gibraltar Open for example – the winner’s kitty has now doubled. It is now exactly the same size as the Riga Masters, which is probably fair. The Series shows a lot of variety, something we have been crying out for in snooker.

This makes it more exciting for the fans as the rankings table would intensify a lot. We may be more first-time ranking winners. It may help lower-ranking players gain more money to not just compete but to earn a living. It’s a win win for anyone and everyone within the sport, really!

Recent success of the Home Nations and the Coral Cup

The Home Nations is one of my favourite parts of the snooker season. Before, there was just the Welsh Open. Now, it was joined by three tournaments, each in different parts of the United Kingdom. Yes, no one has got the additional bonus for winning all four events, but it’s there! After an excellent rebrand and all well-attend, it’s a stroke of genius. I attended the English Open in Crawley last season and it was hugely enjoyable.

Last season was an introduction of the Coral Cup. It did what essentially the BetVictor European Series is doing – cobbled two existing events while adding another one to create a series. In it’s first attempt, it worked. I went to Cheltenham to watch Judd Trump play against Ali Carter in the World Grand Prix final and it was really good fun. It was essentially helped by the success of Ronnie O’Sullivan. Three home events was perfect for him. For him to win two of them as well as scoring the 1000th century break in the Players Championship final was pure poetry.

So why shouldn’t the European Series work? World Snooker has a great record for creating series that everyone enjoys. For now, we should at least give this one a chance!

Cons

Does it devalue the German Masters?

Out of the four events, the German Masters is the only significant tournament. Since 2011, the German Masters has been a fan and player favourite as a stand-alone ranking event. It is always well-attended, with many enthusiastic and knowledgable fans watching snooker at the Tempodrom in Berlin. It is also well-known for having an unusual table format whereby the snooker table surround the one in the centre.

Now, the German Masters is part of a European series. For me, that’s devalues the German Masters itself. It is in a series alongside relatively unimpressive events. The Gibraltar Open is lacking history and currently unattractive to top players and as a ranking event, considering it used to be part of the past PTC circuit. The fact that a European Series is being created makes me think that the European Masters hasn’t lived up to expectations of enticing European audiences at all.

There is an argument that it would make no difference. It is still exactly the same event. After all, the fans will still be there! It seems like an attempt to get more players attending Gibraltar and the Shoot Out by having them riding the coattails of better tournaments like the German Masters.

The Snooker Shoot-Out raises to greater ranking prominence

Following on with the German Masters point, it is also alongside the Snooker Shoot-Out. Now, it is a controversial event for obvious reasons. The argument of whether it should be a ranking event at all has been done to death, so click here for my past ramblings. The rise in prize money and the winner’s cheque (from £32,000 to £50,000) only intensifies the argument! £50,000 to win just seven frames takes the fun out of such a relaxed event.

Moving on, it is a bit strange to see a completely different event alongside events where more than one frame in every match is being played. As mentioned before, I love the Home Nations series. These events are at least similar in format. It looks disjointed and it seems that these events are brought together just for the sake of a common sponsor. Would the Riga Masters or even the non-ranker Paul Hunter Classic be a better alternative?

Now that it’s part of the series it is very cleverly put there to entice top players to participate. Will they take the bait? Does that show a bit of desperation to put so much money in a fun event that takes little effort?

Is it a bit too PDC-esque?

There are already a couple of events where they rely on a player’s ranking or their Order of Merit. Last season, the new Coral series is based on the one-year ranking list, where the winner of the series will win a hefty bonus.

This goes the same with the BetVictor European Series. Whoever wins that series overall will won a good bonus, which means another ranking list to prepare for. A number of these factor have made me think if there are more similarities in the PDC Darts Tour. In the PDC tour there is already the European Tour, which consists of thirteen events. Is it heading that way?

What do you think? Please check out the poll below!