Barry Hearn expects 2029 World Snooker Championship to stay in UK despite Crucible redevelopment

Barry Hearn has said he expects the 2029 World Snooker Championship to remain in the United Kingdom when Sheffield's Crucible Theatre is redeveloped. It was announced in March that the sport's biggest tournament, which has been held at the small but atmospheric venue since 1977, would remain there until 2045. However, linked to that is a deal that means the theatre will be redeveloped, with 500 seats added to take the capacity up to about 1,500. While that happens, the tournament in 2029 and maybe in 2030 will have to be staged elsewhere, with China, which already hosts numerous ranking events, tipped as a potential destination. "If I was a gambling man I would go odds on it stays in the UK," said Hearn, the president of Matchroom Sport, which has owned a controlling stake in World Snooker since 2010. "But being the money man I am, if the right offer comes in I will have to consider it. "Great Britain is the home of snooker, it is where we grew up as a sport, and I'm very loath to move it anywhere else." There are a number of factors for snooker's leaders to bear in mind, including sponsorship and broadcasters' wishes. "I have a great relationship with the BBC and you don't want to take it anywhere that has a different time zone. There are opportunities to take it elsewhere, but these opportunities come with downsides," Hearn said. "As much as I love the Crucible, it's 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." National and local government will supply £35m of the £45m cost for the revamp, with the other £10m coming from the private sector. The World Championship is broadcast live on the BBC, and this year's tournament began on Saturday with the final finishing on 4 May. Before the new contract, the 2026 event would have been the penultimate one at the Crucible, with the previous deal expiring in 2027. "The team at World Snooker and Sheffield City Council have done the sensible thing and pulled off a deal that works for everybody. I would've hated to not be here, I'm so glad we're staying," added 77-year-old Hearn, who was chairman of World Snooker from 2010 to 2021. "It was in doubt, but if people are sensible, the key word is 'respect' in negotiating a contract and you have to respect both sides. You never get everything you want, but a great deal leaves everyone with a bit of bread in the mouths. "Credit to the government, they came up with the money to make the deal into a working possibility. Without that government money, this deal could not be done." Hearn was Steve Davis' manager throughout his career, with Davis winning six world titles. The first of those Crucible successes came in 1981 when Davis was nearly knocked off his feet by Hearn, who ran out to congratulate him, with Hearn founding Matchroom Sport a year later. "My life changed in 1981 and I will never forget that," added Hearn. "It's difficult to negotiate when everyone knows you are in love with the Crucible. "I pretty much knew it would be at the Crucible if they treated the game and World Snooker with respect. It was not 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 and live in the real world. We will make sure we can do a perfect job with 1,500 seats and expand commercially. But the beauty of this deal is we were all in this together. "So 2045, we don't have to think about it for 19 years. That makes me 97, you can bet your bottom dollar I will be here." Hearn mentioned Alexandra Palace in north London, which already holds the Masters, along with Newcastle and Manchester, where the Tour Championship is staged, as potential hosts for 2029. He also named London venues Olympia and Excel as possible options. But Hearn has not ruled out other European destinations, including the Tempodrom in Berlin, which has held some Premier League Darts events - with Hearn also president of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) - and snooker's German Masters. Hearn said the new Crucible deal meant he could reward the players better. "We're going to increase the prize money, having got the Crucible done," said Hearn. "We're not going to go silly, we're going to go sustainable. Next year we will have a review, everything will go up, but not as dramatically as some want." Hearn mentioned a targeted World Championship prize fund of £3m, up from its existing £2.4m, and if approved and implemented for 2027 that could mean the winner's prize moves from £500,000 to £625,000. He added that the eventual aim was to take the winner's prize money from the Crucible up to the £1m mark. Darts currently pays its world champion £1m. "By the time we come back here, we're at a level that snooker has never been close to," said Hearn. "We're going to look at all the events and concentrate on the blue-ribbon ones. "But we will get the balance right, so there's a bit of bread for everybody. We will get it right, for the sport and for the individual. "This is the biggest opportunity in snooker for 20 years."