Lack of excitement surrounding Saudi Arabia Masters proves it can't be considered snooker's fourth major just because of money

It’s the final of the World Championship between two of snooker’s biggest ever stars and we’ve gone all the way to a deciding frame.

One of the legends compiles a break of 62 before agonisingly missing a red with 75 points left on the table.

Just take a moment to imagine the atmosphere, the tension, the gasps. Not just inside the Crucible but also inside millions of homes around the world, reflected by the deafening social media noise created by captivated snooker purists and casuals alike.

This would be amplified to the absolute max when his opponent comes to the table and produces a sensational clearance in the most intense atmosphere possible to win the title and a cheque for £500,000.

Imagine the scenes and reaction. Apart from a 147 break in a similar scenario – or possibly a re-spotted black - that would pretty much be as dramatic as it could get for snooker. The moment would be etched in the annals of time and talked about for as long as the sport survives.

A nomination for BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award could also be on the cards because of it!

Even if the same were to happen in the UK Championship or Masters finals, the York Barbican or Alexandra Palace would also be rocking like never before and capture the imagination of a bumper TV audience.

Now compare your imagination with this exact same scenario at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters between Judd Trump and Mark Williams, where £500,000 was also on the line and title of snooker’s new ‘fourth major’.

Now it might be a little harsh to compare it with the atmosphere of events during the Covid era but I’ve seen more crowd involvement and excitement during the early rounds of Home Nations events that players like Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan have been so rude about in the past.

This was a dream scenario for the event organisers to get the ‘history’ of Saudi Arabia’s multi-million pound involvement in snooker truly up and running – but it still failed to conjure up that unique kind of magic feeling that you'd associate with anything resembling a 'major'.

Even outside of Riyadh, the reaction was hardly electrifying. And that's among those who were actually watching.

Social media reaction on Saturday night seemed deathly quiet compared to what you’d expect around the three hallowed Triple Crown events, and I’d be interested to know how small the TV viewing figures were compared to the ‘big three’ – which can soar into millions - and indeed other big tournaments such as the Tour Championship, Players Championship and Champion of Champions.

Just to be clear, this article isn’t fuelled or motivated by Saudi Arabia’s human rights record or other surrounding issues – I’m leaving that to one side and focusing purely on the reputational damage this kind of money can have on the sport and its attempts to appeal to the masses.

Money alone doesn't earn 'major' status

For a start, there should never be a tournament in any sport that matches – or exceeds – the reward of reaching its pinnacle. In snooker’s case, the World Championship.

For the vast majority of sports people, it’s the glory of collecting major titles that is the primary goal – as proved by the amount of tearful runners-up speeches we see while they clutch a ‘consolation’ cheque for 100s and 1000s of pounds.

And they’ll all rank the importance of different tournaments based on history, prestige and iconic venues.

The monetary prize structure will obviously complement those factors accordingly so there’s never a debate as to which events the players, fans and the media can unanimously rally behind as the most important in the sport.

The rewards purely add extra incentive to an otherwise prestigious spectacle. The more on the line, the more tension and excitement it can give the viewer.

However, throwing ludicrous sums of money at the introduction of new events that will never get the respect of fans will skew a well-balanced laddering structure.

The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters offered exactly the same amount of prize money per round that the World Championship does from the last 32 onwards.

Straight away that dwarfs the very sizeable cheques on offer in the sport’s two other defined majors.

While they’ll still always be truly special, they are now tarnished by the thought that players would rather win a soulless tournament that only exists because of the ridiculous money the hosts can offer.

It's even worse that it’s ranked.

Nobody will ever have any qualms about a World Championship having a uniquely big impact on the world rankings – especially given the number of frames you must win as well as the talent and mental strength you must possess to do so.

But how can anyone justify the massive climbs a player could make for a lengthy run in Riyadh?

Some would argue it’s great for the lower ranked players that they get a chance to win bigger money than usual in a more wide open and ‘easier’ format than the bigger events, that they’d also struggle to qualify for.

But let’s not pretend the rationale for this highly lucrative event was much to do with 'charity' for the journeymen pros.

It was about flexing their extravagant financial muscle to shortcut the whole history factor and make the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters the second most important event on the calendar. And that’s just now.

How long before it’ll become more lucrative than the World Championship? They probably want that status already but it would look wrong right now, even for the Hearns.

But unless the Worlds get taken to Saudi Arabia – and it’s worryingly possible – they’ll never capture the public’s imagination and excitement.

It may be snooker's 'fourth major' in terms of player's wallets, but to earn true major status you need so much more.

Wasting money

Look at LIV Golf who have spent three years spending billions to recruit a collection of global stars and journeymen looking to quadruple their career earnings in a heartbeat. Jon Rahm may have shed a tear when he won in Staffordshire in front of a modest crowd earlier this summer, but still nobody really gives a s**t what’s going on. Not even a recognised TV channel has bothered to broadcast it yet because they know the public won’t tune in.

I attended the aforementioned event for my own curiosity and it felt more like a novelty exhibition in terms of the atmosphere and informality of it all.

There were gimmicks such as live music, airshows going on in the skies above and a ‘party hole’ where the crowds were encouraged to make as much noise as possible as every player teed off to their choice of music. The shotgun start (where all players begin at the same time) was a spectator benefit, but otherwise this was unserious sport taken as such by those in attendance.

While I was there, I met someone involved in LIV Golf and he gleefully tried to sell the concept to me in this enthusiastic American accent: “There’s so much fun going on, the air shows, the live music, the drink, food…and then (pause for effect) there’s the golf.”

That says it all really. And for the fans, it was just a chance to see some big names in action. Nothing more. There was no other investment in what was going on.

A disconsolate looking Bryson DeChambeau then yelled ‘oh it’s so funny right?’ at me at one point for taking a picture of him looking for his ball but he was probably more miffed that his career had taken him into some rough in Staffordshire.

But anyway, back to snooker and despite what Trump had been asked to say about the tournament feeling as special as the Crucible, nobody can deny the soullessness than exists within that arena – and lack of the buzz it’s creating around the world.

Even with that most dramatic of climaxes.

The quietness in the Crucible is due to intense fascination and concentration from a highly knowledgeable crowd. The quietness is Riyad was an intense lack of either.

No matter how hard the players were battling to win five frames in the last 32 to win the same amount (£30,000) that they’d have to win 10 frames in the pressure cooker of the Crucible, this event will never get the respect it thinks it can buy.

And it begs the question: what’s in it for Saudi Arabia?

And if they soon realise the answer is not a lot, then for how long will this last? Perhaps that’s why players like Trump and O’Sullivan are keen to get as much of the action while they can, never mind the damage it does to their sport.

Fourth major? Come back to us in 40 years.

Most lucrative tournaments on the snooker circuit (Based on winners' cheque)

• Pots which are still TBC are based on 2023/24 figures
• Ranking of events based on winners' cheque size due to field sizes affecting total pots
• * denotes unranked

1. World Championship: Total Prize Fund: £2,395,000, Winner: £500,000
2. Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters: Total Prize Fund: £2,000,000, Winner: £500,000
3. UK Championship: Total Prize Fund: £1,205,000, Winner: £250,000
4. Masters *: Total Prize Fund: £725,000, Winner: £250,000
5. World Masters of Snooker *: Total Prize Fund: £785,000, Winner: £250,000
6. Shanghai Masters *: Total Prize Fund: £825,000, Winner: £210,000
7. International Championship: Total Prize Fund: £825,000, Winner: £210,000
8. Xi'an Grand Prix: Total Prize Fund: £850,000, Winner: £177,000
9. World Open: Total Prize Fund: £815,000, Winner: £170,000
10. Tour Championship: Total Prize Fund: £500,000, Winner: £150,000
11. Champion of Champions *: Total Prize Fund: £440,000, Winner: £150,000
12. Wuhan Open: Total Prize Fund: £700,000, Winner: £140,000
13. Players Championship: Total Prize Fund: £385,000, Winner: £125,000
14. World Grand Prix: Total Prize Fund: £380,000, Winner: £100,000
15. British Open: Total Prize Fund: £502,00, Winner: £100,000
16. English Open: Total Prize Fund: £427,000, Winner: £80,000
17. Northern Ireland Open: Total Prize Fund: £427,000, Winner: £80,000
18. Welsh Open: Total Prize Fund: £427,000, Winner: £80,000
19. Scottish Open: Total Prize Fund: £427,000, Winner: £80,000
20. European Masters: Total Prize Fund: £427,000, Winner: £80,000
21. German Masters: Total Prize Fund: £427,000, Winner: £80,000
22. Shoot Out: Total Prize Fund: £171,000, Winner: £50,000
23. Mixed World Doubles *: Total Prize Fund: £140,000, Winners: £30,000 each