2025 World Snooker Championship Breaks Streaming Record, "One of the Best World Championships Ever"

The 2025 World Snooker Championship has been played a record 29 million times on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and the BBC Sport app, up 25% on the previous year. The Sheffield Crucible Theatre show was watched by another 12.6 million people on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four television. During the finals, BBC Channel 2 had a peak of 3 million viewership.

Zhao Xintong defeated Mark Williams 18-12 in the final of the 2025 World Snooker Championship and became the first Chinese player to lift the World Championship trophy

On Monday, local time, Zhao Xintong defeated Mark Williams 18-12 in the final and became the first Chinese player to lift the World Snooker Championship trophy. BBC sporting director Alex Kay Jelski said: "This year's World Championships were thrilling and the fans responded enthusiastically. The competition is full of drama, with both legends and rising stars showcasing the talent of the sport's next generation of players. ”

Steve Dawson, Chairman of the World Snooker Tour, said: "This is one of the best world championships of all time, full of exciting moments, great matches and extraordinary levels of play. So we're glad to see that reflected in the BBC's ratings figures. Setting a new record for iPlayer streaming shows that we have more and more new fans who are paying attention to the unique drama of snooker. ”

In January, the BBC agreed to extend its agreement with the World Snooker Tour (WST) for five years, extending the broadcast contract for three of snooker's most prestigious events – the World Championship, the UK Championship and the Masters – until 2032.