Ronnie O’Sullivan Admits He ‘Would Love To See A LIV-Style Breakaway’ At 2024 World Snooker Championship

The introduction of LIV Golf to the elite male golf landscape may have caused no end of headaches in the last two years, but as far as one of the top players from a different sport is concerned, he’d have no issues with a similar breakaway league.

Ronnie O’Sullivan is widely regarded as one of the most gifted snooker players of all time, with a joint record of seven World Snooker Championship titles, while he is the current World No.1. 

However, despite his incredible success on the green baize, the 48-year-old's estimated career earnings are modest compared to those of the most successful golfers, reportedly standing at around $20m.

The Englishman is currently aiming for the outright record number of World Snooker Championship titles, and has reached the quarter-final of the 2024 edition. After knocking out Ryan Day in his second-round match, O’Sullivan’s attention turned to LIV Golf and its impact on the men’s golf game. 

He admitted he would like to see something similar come to snooker - particularly if it offered deals similar to those reportedly handed to the top players to join LIV. He said: "I would love to see a LIV-style breakaway, gosh! I wouldn't mind getting a phone call saying 'here, do you want 600 million to play for three years?’ I'd love that phone call, wouldn't you?”

One of the big issues of LIV Golf has been the PGA Tour's reaction to it, with any of its players joining the big-money League facing immediate suspension. O’Sullivan admitted that he isn’t sure if the World Snooker Tour could make a similar move should a rival emerge. He said: "I don't know. I don't get involved in it. Each to their own. Everyone's got to do what they've got to do. I try not to get involved in it."

O’Sullivan is on the World Snooker Tour, and recently signed a three-year ambassadorial deal with the circuit, apparently ruling out any possibility of joining a rival. However, it is not the first time he has talked about a desire for a new tour and, in 2018, threatened to form a breakaway “Champions League-style” circuit.

While that didn’t happen, O’Sullivan’s latest comments came after reports that many of the game’s top players having been approached by backers from the Far East about joining a breakaway league.

Despite the potential financial rewards, following the turmoil in the men’s elite game since the emergence of LIV Golf, it might be a case of “be careful what you wish for.”

Even though it has been almost two years since the first LIV Golf event, there are still fractures at the top of the men’s game. Meanwhile, despite the PGA Tour and Saudi Public Investment Fund behind LIV Golf being locked in talks over a way forward for 11 months, an agreement has yet to be reached.

As the impasse continues, earlier in the month, four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy emphatically shut down a report of an $850m move to LIV Golf by vowing to "play the PGA Tour for the rest of my career."