Ronnie O’Sullivan, the world No. 1 snooker player is now the new face of Rileys, the UK's largest pool and snooker operator. It runs 128 clubs all over the country. He was also announced as “Rileys first ever UK ambassador”. Together with Rileys the “Rocket” will look for young talented players and give them his support. Commenting on the big news, Rileys Chief Executive Maurice Kelly said, "Rileys are delighted to sign as their ambassador, Ronnie O’Sullivan, the biggest snooker name in the world. Together, Rileys and Ronnie are going to put the wow factor back into the game".
And Ronnie in his turn said: "Everybody knows how much I love the game of snooker and how much I want our game to become more popular in the UK and throughout the world. When I met the new owners of Rileys I realised they shared my passion for the game. The next few years are going to be exciting for snooker and I am delighted to be closely involved with Rileys. There's going to be a revolution!"
I think it is very beneficial for Rileys as Ronnie is one of the best snooker players and it is a great PR achievement to get him as a representative, ambassador. It is very important to get the right person to represent your company, in this case I think it is the best thing what Rileys could do. Ronnie is one of the most favorite players, people know him, people love him and they will go toRileys clubs.
At the same time it is very beneficial for Ronnie as well, for his own reputation to be called the first UK ambassador for Rileys as his name will be highlighted at Rileys clubs, online, and via a major radio campaign with talkSPORT.
So, it is a mutual beneficial campaign for both sides.
I think even if your company is successful you need to excel and strive to maintain excellent relationships with your publics. In my opinion, it is an excellent PR action.
It is becoming increasingly popular for sporting organizations to appoint ‘ambassadors’ in order to generate publicity. Although Ronnie O’Sullivan is one of the world’s greatest Snooker players, His career has been littered with controversies. For example in 1998, O’Sullivan was stripped of his Irish masters title after testing positive for cannabis. O’Sullivan also received negative publicity when he assaulted an official during a match. It has been highly publicised in the press that O’Sullivan has suffered from depression, and is one of many sporting celebrities to have checked into the Priory rehab clinic. Is Ronnie O’Sullivan a good ambassador for snooker? I am not sure that Riley’s partnership with him is necessarily a good PR move. Surely appointing a young up-and-coming star with a clean image would be better? It seems Ronnie O’Sullivan has a tendency to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
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