ITV Sport has confirmed it will not be showing the snooker World Grand Prix next year.
The tournament featuring the top 32 players on the one-year ranking list has been shown on ITV for a number of years.
But the 2025 snooker World Grand Prix will not be shown on ITV channels, it has been confirmed to snookerchat.com.
It comes after World Snooker Tour (WST) announced the event would be moving from the UK to Hong Kong. This is part of its plan to globalise snooker.
ITV confirmed that it will not show the snooker event due to the location change. And because of the resultant live broadcast timings for a UK audience.
No broadcast deal has yet been announced. But ITV’s decision not to show the event now leaves a gap to be filled for UK viewers.
However, ITV will still be showing the other two main events of the Players Series – the Players Championship and the Tour Championship. This was confirmed during its Champion of Champions coverage in November.
Snooker World Grand Prix biggest audience aim
ITV added it wanted to continue its working relationship with snooker and the World Grand Prix in the future.
A spokesperson for the World Snooker Tour said: “We will announce all broadcasters for the World Grand Prix in due course.”
In October the WST announced the World Grand Prix would be staged in Hong Kong. It will be the country’s first ranking event in 35 years. The tournament’s top prize will jump from £100,000 to £180,000 this season.
The dates for the competition are scheduled for between March 4 and March 9. The event is set to take place at the Kai Tak Sports Park, set to open next year.
The arena will have a capacity of more than 4,000, with an ambition to play host to snooker’s biggest ever live audience for a ranking tournament.
WST chief executive officer Simon Brownell said in October: “We are hugely excited to be taking such a massive event to Hong Kong. This is a move which is in line with our strategy to have a greater distribution of snooker’s biggest tournaments around the world and further globalise the sport.
“Hong Kong is a territory and market of particular significance for us. We are delighted to be utilising this new world class venue.”
I really hope ITV can get another tournament to show. As for the Players Series, I don’t think it will feel like a series of 3 anymore.