Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is pessimistic about the future of snooker, comparing the sport to a car boot sale.
Speaking from the sidelines of the UK Championship, the maverick O'Sullivan claimed snooker needs a major injection of cash to keep pace with other sports.
The Englishman has captivated audiences with his flamboyant and ambidextrous play for more than two decades, but has never been far from controversy.
"Maybe if it went to China and you found some billionaires out there who would put the sport on and have million pound prize money you could start looking at snooker as a core sport again," said O'Sullivan, widely known as 'Rocket Ronnie'.
"But you're competing with Formula One, tennis, golf and the Olympics.
"They give it (snooker) like 10 seconds on BBC Sports Personality - it's a complete insult to the sport but it's what they think of it and what they believe it warrants, and that says it all really."
O'Sullivan sailed through to the fourth round of the UK Championship in York with a 6-1 win over Londoner Michael Georgiou, but believes snooker is underselling itself.
"Snooker is becoming a nothing-type sport - it's kind of like a car boot sale but with the other sports it's like shopping at Harrods," said O'Sullivan.
"They're putting so much of it out there it's cheap TV. I think snooker has lost that respect amongst other sports out there."
O'Sullivan has won the UK Championship on five occasions, most recently in 2014 when he beat Judd Trump in the final.
He will face the winner of Matthew Stevens v Joe Perry in the next round.
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