Betfred.com named title sponsor of the World Snooker Championship

Betfred.com have announced a new partnership with World Snooker to become the main sponsor of the World Snooker Championship for the next four years. The sport's most prestigious tournament will now be known as the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.

The event at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield runs from April 18th to May 4th and is one of the highlights of the sporting calendar, featuring all of snooker’s top players, including defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan (see right), seven-times winner Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Steve Davis, Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and Ali Carter. Announcing the deal, Betfred boss Fred Done said: "It’s always been an ambition of mine to sponsor a World Championship and this is a competition with so much history. When it comes to snooker this is the pinnacle of the sport and I look forward to watching the world’s greatest 32 players". Popularity World Snooker chairman Sir Rodney Walker underlined the importance of the new deal to the sport: "We are extremely pleased to have entered into a long-term partnership with Betfred.com, which is a fantastic company for our sport to be associated with and again they have demonstrated their support to the benefit of all fans. "The fact we have been able to secure a four-year agreement within the current economic climate is testament to the popularity of snooker in the UK and internationally. We look forward to working together with Betfred.com to build and develop the sport further over the coming years". Star Betfred.com are no strangers to the world of sport and have already secured deals with Wembley and Manchester United to be their exclusive online bookmaking and gaming partners. Leading players are very pleased with the announcement. Rising star Mark Selby, last year’s Masters champion, added: “So many millions of people in the UK and internationally love snooker. The amount of TV coverage       and viewing figures are very strong, and obviously Betfred.com has realised that. Everyone can now look forward to a great tournament". Last year, the tournament received 127 hours of coverage from BBC Sport, with 24.5 million adults watching at least five minutes of consecutive action. It also received extensive coverage around the world with a reach of over 60 million individuals on Eurosport and a peak audience of over ten million on CCTV5 (China) alone. Snooker legend Stephen Hendry commented: “I’m delighted that we have found a sponsor for the World Championship. I’ve known the people at Betfred.com for several years so I know snooker will be able to build a great relationship with them.” Last year’s Crucible runner-up Ali Carter said: “It’s great news for snooker and all the players. The World Championship is our biggest event and having a major sponsor in Betfred.com adds to the prestige, so it’s brilliant to have that secured for the next four years".