Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre will remain the home of the World Snooker Championship for another two decades following a landmark agreement revealed on Tuesday between the city council and World Snooker Tour.
The deal secures snooker’s showpiece event at its iconic Yorkshire venue until at least 2045, ending speculation about a potential move to China or Saudi Arabia.
A substantial £45million refurbishment of the theatre is planned, which will boost capacity by 500 seats from the current figure of just under 1,000.
The majority of funding comes from local and central government sources, with £10million contributed by the public sector.
The championship will temporarily relocate in 2029, and possibly 2030, while renovation works take place, before returning to the expanded arena.
Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn has set his sights on delivering a seven-figure winner’s cheque, though he acknowledges this will not happen immediately.
Hearn said: “We will definitely see it – but it will take a little while. It’s very difficult to compare darts and snooker.”
The 77-year-old sports promoter pointed to the remarkable growth in darts, where Luke Littler collected £1million for his World Championship triumph in January.
Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre will remain the home of the World Snooker Championship for another two decades
| GETTY
By contrast, Zhao Xintong received half that sum when the 28-year-old Chinese player claimed his maiden world title last year. The winner’s prize has stood at £500,000 since Judd Trump’s victory in 2019.
Hearn believes the new Crucible agreement provides the foundation for snooker to follow a similar upward trajectory to darts.
He said: “We won’t get to it in one jump. But I think we’ll have some sort of plan in a few weeks’ time to be able to share with you during the Crucible.”
The Matchroom president wants the overall prize pot to reach £5million as swiftly as possible, more than doubling the current total fund of £2,395,000.
The World Snooker Championships at the Crucible | GETTY
A significant prize money announcement is expected next month when the World Championship gets underway, though the full doubling of funds will likely materialise once the Crucible redevelopment completes in 2031.
Hearn said: “We need to be better at World Snooker in raising more money and making sure the prize money goes as quickly as possible up to a minimum of £5million.”
He also highlighted growing commercial opportunities in China, including merchandise, clothing ranges and health drinks.
Several leading players have expressed support for keeping the championship in Sheffield for the coming decades. Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson are among those backing the move.
Ronnie O’Sullivan previously criticised the Crucible and suggested a venue change was needed | GETTY
No prominent player has publicly criticised the choice to remain at the Crucible, though some are understood to be less than thrilled with the outcome.
Hearn had a blunt response for any players who might have preferred relocating for the potential of higher earnings.
He said: “My message is: Enjoy snooker. Play it, mate. When you’re ready to run a business, I’ll let you know. Get your head down. Practice.
“Everyone can have an opinion. You were born to be a snooker player. The World Snooker Tour was born to run businesses. And we’re not bad.”
