Power Snooker launch will be at O2 arena

Snooker has become the latest sport to undergo a marketing makeover in search of new audiences, with a format played against the clock that will attempt to ape the razzmatazz of Twenty20 cricket.

Power Snooker will debut at the O2 arena on 30 October, with a one-day tournament featuring players such as Ronnie O'Sullivan, Jimmy White, the Chinese prodigy Ding Junhui and current world champion Neil Robertson, competing for a £35,000 first prize. The eight-hour competition will be screened live on ITV4, albeit after Power Snooker "contributed" to the network's production costs.

The format will feature loud music, crowd interaction and games lasting half an hour each, with 20 seconds allowed for each shot and double points scored for a two-minute period if the "power ball" red is sunk.

It is the brainchild of Rod Gunner, the impresario behind productions such as Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance. He has been joined by Ed Simons, a co-producer of the film The Lawnmower Man and long-time business partner of the boxing promoter Frank Warren, whose wife also has a small shareholding in the snooker venture.

"We have come to the conclusion that snooker is in need of a huge transformation," Simons said. "We have been sanctioned by Barry Hearn's World Snooker to give us credibility. We don't want to be a threat. This will be another form of the game."

The aim is to create a brand and then cash in on a multitude of possible revenue streams. First there are the events, which will generate ticket sales, overseas television rights and sponsorship, while there are plans to charge amateur snooker players to enter qualifying tournaments where the winner takes a slot in a Power Snooker "grand prix" event.

Second, the brand is licensing its game into snooker halls, with Rileys, which operates 124 clubs, charging its customers an extra £2 to play. And then, there will be the sale of the brand's products, such as its iPhone app.

The directors currently value the fledgling company at £1.25m, and Power Snooker says that its first event at the O2 has sold out. It predicts the company will turn over about £500,000 in the UK next year. However, this country is not the main focus, as the creators look east to China, where Simons claims that snooker is now more popular than table tennis.

However, there is much to prove. Power Snooker has not yet signed a deal with a bookmaker, while the traditional game has suffered from a decline in popularity and sponsorship since its heyday in the 1980s and also received a recent shock from the John Higgins betting affair.

Meanwhile, efforts in other sports to copy the success of Twenty20 – including little-known initiatives such as PowerPlay Golf – have not proved hugely lucrative.

Hearn has not invested. Simons said that snooker's best-known promoter had played safe: "Our feeling is that he'll take a look at the event, see how it goes, and then we'll have another conversation."