RONNIE O’SULLIVAN has signed a deal with Eurosport to present a new snooker magazine programme and be its global brand ambassador for the sport.
Under the terms of the deal, British Eurosport’s production team will make five half hour TV shows with the five-times world champion. The programmes will include tournament previews and reviews, snooker techniques and masterclasses as well as interviews with snooker players and other sporting stars and take a lighter view of the sport.
The first episode of “The Ronnie O’Sullivan Show” will be broadcast in 54 countries on Tuesday 25th March, the opening day of the Players Championship Grand Final, when Ronnie will reflect on the season to date including his sensational win at the Masters in January, look at some of the skills of playing the game in his first masterclass as well as talking snooker fans through the unique way he likes to play the game.
The second show is then scheduled for Wednesday 16th April when Ronnie will be in Sheffield to look back on his fifth World Championship win at the Crucible last year, but also to look at the future of the sport at the Star Snooker Academy in the city as well as catching up with some of the Asian players based there. There will also be another instalment of the masterclass as Ronnie looks at some more advanced cueing techniques.
O’Sullivan said, “I am really excited by this new development in my career and the opportunity to work with Eurosport who are working hard to generate international interest in snooker.
“This project allows me to keep playing, but also to do something a bit different. Eurosport is helping to grow the game in Europe, so I can demonstrate the skills of the game and share my passion for the sport with a new audience, which is something that really motivates me. I also have the chance to share what it’s like to be a professional snooker player and look at some of the characters on the Tour.
“This series of programmes is something I have wanted to do for some time, Eurosport is the best place to develop the ideas and we are all really keen to get started.”
Arnaud Simon, Eurosport Group’s TV Content Director said: “We want to work with the best experts in every sport. Ronnie is snooker for millions of fans across Europe, he is the player they see as the superstar of the game and we have worked hard to create this opportunity with him to produce an exclusive series of programmes for our passionate and increasingly knowledgeable snooker audience.”
David Kerr, Managing Director of British Eurosport added: “I would like to welcome Ronnie to the Eurosport family. British Eurosport is the “Home of Snooker” so the fit with the game’s greatest current player is a natural one. We are looking forward to working with him and creating some great original content to add to our existing comprehensive live coverage of the sport.”
The first edition of The Ronnie O’Sullivan Show will be broadcast at 12.30pm GMT on March 25, repeated at 12.30pm on the 28th and 4pm and 9pm on the 29th.