Global snooker organisation launches digital community platform

From verified player profiles and dynamic global rankings to gamified tournaments that track every shot with detailed match statistics and match updates, Play Snooker is reportedly designed to address today’s fragmented sports ecosystem by gamifying the playing experience.

The Play Snooker solution will be accessed via the solution’s consumer-centric app and powered by the Nagra Sport Player and Community Platform. Built on a customisable and modular cloud-native architecture that leverages AWS elastic scaling capabilities to achieve global reach, the solution includes a tournament engine and monetisation options for memberships that will include advertising and micro-transactions.

Jason Ferguson, Chairman of the WPBSA, tells IBC365: "Snooker has 100 million players worldwide. The Play Snooker app provides an infrastructure that connects players with one another. For the first time, a recreational player in Bangkok or Buenos Aires has a verified profile, a global ranking, and a direct line into the snooker community. For broadcast, that means a much more active and engaged group of players and participants who are likely to become part of the broadcast audience. But the value extends much further; we now have the infrastructure to run global amateur competitions, support club development, and build loyalty across the entire pyramid, from first-time player to lifelong fan. The challenge was finding a technology partner who understood that a federation's relationship with its players is fundamentally different from a broadcaster's relationship with viewers. Nagravision understood that distinction and built a platform that serves the sport's governance and commercial needs without feeling like a purely commercial product. That balance was genuinely hard to get right, and it matters enormously for long-term trust and adoption by the participants of our sport."

Also speaking to IBC365, Chris Neilson, Director of Business Development at Nagravision’s Nagra Sport division, adds: “The sports industry has invested heavily in broadcast infrastructure, OTT delivery, and anti-piracy protection, and those remain critical. But federations have been missing a direct connection to the people who actually play the sport. Play Snooker closes that gap. At Nagravision, we think about our role in sport across three layers: managed live sports delivery, streaming security, and now direct player and community engagement. Play Snooker is the first live proof point of that third pillar. When a federation owns its player ecosystem, with verified identities, participation data, and community behavior, it creates an entirely new foundation for monetization that feeds broadcast rather than competes with it. Sponsors want engaged audiences. Broadcasters want growth stories. Participation platforms generate both. But most importantly, we need it to bring value to players. Together with WPBSA, we’ve built something that truly serves clubs, coaches, referees, and players, not just the federation at the top.”

ITV Sport Production was recently selected by UK broadcaster 5 to produce coverage of World Snooker Tour (WST) events, beginning with the Players Championship and Tour Championship in early 2026. Discover more here.