The World Snooker Championship will celebrate its 50th anniversary at the Crucible in 2027 but questions have been raised about how long it will continue to be held at the Sheffield venue
Barry Hearn has claimed the Crucible is “past its sell-by date” amid suggestions the World Snooker Championship could move away from the iconic Sheffield venue.
The Crucible has been hosting the championship since 1977, and the current contract with the venue runs until 2027. However, players such as Ronnie O’Sullivan and Hossein Vafaei have raised concerns over the past 12 months.
O’Sullivan listed a number of changes he would like to make to the venue, with facilities for fighters high on the list, but promoter Hearn also considered other factors when suggesting a move from Sheffield could happen in the near future.
The Crucible’s capacity has often been highlighted, with fewer than 1,000 seats available for those wanting to watch the fight. This is one area of focus for Matchroom Sport boss Hearn, who pointed to a growing fan base outside the UK and the demand that this brings.
“We have to live in the real world,” Hearn told talkSPORT (via Metro). “There comes a time when a person, thing, or company passes its sell-by date.
“The melting pot is past its sell-by date,” he continued. “We love Sheffield. We’ve brought billions of pounds of investment to Sheffield through China and elsewhere. We’ve done our part. And it’s not just spectators – over half a billion people watched the World Championships this year around the world. Forty per cent of the nation watched the World Championships. And those are Chinese.”
The 2024 Championship, won by Kyren Wilson for the first time, gave the champion a prize of £500,000. This figure remains unchanged from 2019, with a prize pool of £2.395 billion making it the richest in snooker, but Hearn suggested this figure could rise if the venue changes.
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“What we’re saying is, for sport to become bigger it’s going to be judged on the prize money so my job is to commercialise the sport and give players more chances to see increased prize money levels and change their lives. In my professional opinion that’s the whole reason people play sport,” Hearn added.
“The Crucible can’t accommodate more than about 850 tickets. We can sell 5,000 tickets per session and we have 40 sessions. All I want to say is, guys, it’s been great. But this is like the Olympics. I’m not like the Olympics. I think it’s a great achievement, but whether you like it or not, winning a medal in any sport is about money.”
Back in April, Hearn warned that the Crucible could be eliminated from the World Championship if it was not rebuilt. But snooker legend Jimmy White launched an impassioned defense of the venue against the promoters.
“What will be lost when we leave? Yes, the magic of this venue,” White told Eurosport. “Some of the new players coming in will have to get used to a two-table situation with applause on the other side, but that’s part of the magic.”