The World Snooker Championship will temporarily leave the Crucible Theatre (Image: Getty)
Barry Hearn wants the World Snooker Championship to stay in the United Kingdom when the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield is redeveloped – but concedes it could leave for Germany for a year. The 2029 edition of the biggest tournament in snooker will need a new home, because its iconic Yorkshire venue will be given some upgrades in a £45million renovation. The redevelopment will include 500 new seats, increasing the total capacity to 1,500.
And it means the World Championship will remain in Sheffield until at least 2045, following previous fears it could leave the UK for good and head to Saudi Arabia or China. But to allow for the work to be completed, the 2029, and potentially 2030, events will have to take place elsewhere. The Crucible has hosted every World Championship since 1977 and is adored by traditionalists for its unique atmosphere. And World Snooker Tour chief and Matchroom President Hearn had declared the venue “no longer fit for purpose” two years ago because of its capacity, which pales in comparison to what other countries could offer.
Speaking on Monday, Hearn says while he prefers to keep the World Championship in the UK, it’s possible it could head abroad to Germany’s Tempodrom – the home of the German Masters – for a year or two.
He explained: “If I was a gambling man I would go odds on it staying in the UK. But being the money man I also am, if the right offer comes in I will have to consider it. If we went abroad, if I had to choose, I’d say Germany. Maybe we should look at the Tempodrom for the World Snooker Championship as it is the same TV times as the UK.
“It can house 3,000 customers. These are things you evaluate. That is a process that will continue for the rest of this year. My personal feeling is I would like it to stay in the UK but it’s probably because I am a lazy b****** and I don’t want to travel.
“I believe the UK is the home of snooker. It’s where we grew up as a sport, and I’m very loath, subject to commerciality, to move it anywhere else. Clearly I have a great partnership with the BBC and we don’t want to take it anywhere which has a different time frame.”
The BBC will have a say where the World Championship ends up in 2029, because they have a contract to broadcast all Triple Crown events until 2032.
Hearn, the former manager of six-time world champion Steve Davis, continued: “There are opportunities to take it elsewhere, but these opportunities come with downsides. As much as I love the Crucible, it was getting a bit aged – it was becoming not fit for purpose and money needed to be spent.
“It’s a one or two-year gap. But everyone will put pressure on to make it just one year away. We have to really try to make it just one year away. Roll up your sleeves, we need a hand with the plastering. The team at World Snooker and Sheffield City Council have done the sensible thing and pulled off a deal that ticks everybody’s boxes.
The Crucible has staged every World Championship since 1977 (Image: Getty)
Barry Hearn spoke about his plans for the 2029 World Championship on Monday (Image: Getty)
“I would’ve hated to not be here, I’m so happy we’re staying. It was in doubt, but if people are sensible, the key word is ‘respect’ in negotiating a contract and then you have to respect both sides. You never get everything you want, but a great deal leaves everyone with a bit of bread in their mouths.
“Credit to the government, they came up with the money. Without that government money, this deal could not be done. I pretty much always knew we would be at the Crucible as long as everyone treated the game and World Snooker with respect. And they did. It wasn’t the best deal in the world and wasn’t everything I wanted.
“I would’ve loved 3,000 seats but I can’t have that and I’m a realist. I live in the real world. I will make sure that we can do a perfectly good job with 1,500 seats and expand the commercial boundaries around that event.
“The beauty of this deal is we were all in this together. We made it happen. So 2045, that’s 19 years. That makes me 97, I can’t wait. You can bet your bottom dollar I will be here.”
While Berlin is a possibility, there are several other UK venues under consideration. Alexandra Palace, which hosts the World Darts Championship and snooker’s Masters is one potential domestic option. London’s Olympia and Excel venues are others, as is the Manchester Central which hosts the Tour Championship.
Hearn promised: “We aren’t going to rush this. We’re looking for the best deal for the sport, the players, and the fans. We’ve had a lot of interest from different event organisers asking ‘What about us?'”
In the longer term, there is an option to extend the existing Crucible Theatre deal with Sheffield City Council by another five years to 2050 should all parties agree.