British brand Halo confirmed a partnership with the Sheffield-based tournament in March earlier this year, as the brand extended its sponsorship portfolio. Halo has continued to identify home market-based sports properties as a means of expanding its name recognition within the UK.
The brand’s current sports sponsorship activity also includes partnerships in Premier League soccer and Formula 1, through a sleeve deal with Ipswich Town and the McLaren F1 team. Halo’s new partnership with the World Snooker Championship marks a new venture and a new channel for targeting British audiences.
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The brand has only signed the partnership on confirmed one-year terms, as it looks to assess the value of the partnership in 2025 before any major commitment to the tournament.
The arrival of Halo in the title partnership position at snooker’s World Championship, however, continues a significant move away from the sport’s pinnacle tournament from brands linked to vice industries. For a long time, snooker was heavily affiliated with the tobacco industry, with it a prominent main sponsor on the sports calendar before the turn of the millennium.
For 30 years between 1976 and 2005, snooker’s biggest event shared naming rights with British cigarette brand Embassy. Snooker and darts were primary targets for Embassy sponsorship in this time, with its only other major investment coming via Formula 1 team naming rights between 1973 and 1975.
For much of the brand’s involvement with snooker’s prized event, the brand received significant direct exposure on account of players being seen smoking at the table. Evidence of players smoking during matches can be seen as late as 1995.
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By GlobalDataSmoking in enclosed public spaces in the United Kingdom was only banned in 2007, two years after the end of Embassy’s association with the snooker championships.
The loss of Embassy sponsorship revenue was quickly replaced by the gambling industry from 2006 onwards. Between 2006 and 2022, gambling has been the main industry supporter of the tournament.
888.com, Betfred, Betfair, and Dafabet have all held the rights in this time. The most prominent supporter, Betfred, held the rights for eight tournaments between 2015 and 2022. The large activity of betting brands in this time centered around a natural association, with many fans opting to bet on snooker matches. For the world championships, very few industries would be able to pay the same associated annual costs for the rights.
As a sport, snooker has actively been exploring alternatives to betting brands in recent years, ending its vice association at the World Championships in 2023. Its first move away came via Cazoo, but this partnership was terminated after just two tournaments, as the brand went into administration in May 2025.
The trend away from vice partnerships can also be seen across its other major events, with all three ‘triple crown’ events (World Championship, UK Championship, and Masters) all partnered away from the gambling industry.
Snooker has continued to appeal to British brands, with Victorian Plumbing sponsoring the 2024 UK Championship and Johnstone’s Paint supporting the 2025 Masters. Betting title sponsorship was last seen at the events in 2021 (Masters) and 2020 (UK Championship), respectively.
The sport’s growing popularity around the world, particularly in China, could offer a new sponsorship opportunity for the largest events in snooker moving forward.
The 2025 World Championship main draw, although largely filled with UK-based players (over 59%), is also heavily filled by Chinese players who account for over 31% of the competition.
The appeal of foreign brand investment would also be increased by any such decision taken to move the World Championship away from the Crucible in Sheffield.
With China already hosting several leading events on the snooker calendar, the country has been touted as a potential future host of ‘triple crown’ events, including the World Championship.
The calls from many fans and players get louder every year for the World Championship’s relocation to China, a seismic shift that would alter the commercial landscape of the sport.
