The World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield will need a new home in 2029 as the iconic venue is redeveloped
Barry Hearn is determined to keep the World Snooker Championship on British soil when Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre undergoes redevelopment – though he admits it might temporarily relocate to Germany for a year. The 2029 edition of snooker’s showpiece event will require an alternative home as the iconic Yorkshire venue prepares for a £45million refurbishment.
The upgrade will add 500 additional seats, pushing overall capacity up to 1,500. This means the World Championship will remain in Sheffield until at least 2045, easing earlier concerns it might permanently depart the UK for Saudi Arabia or China. However, to enable the building work to proceed, the 2029, and possibly 2030, tournaments will need to find temporary homes elsewhere.
The Crucible has staged every World Championship since 1977 and remains beloved by purists for its distinctive atmosphere. World Snooker Tour chief and Matchroom President Hearn had previously branded the venue “no longer fit for purpose” two years ago due to its limited capacity, which is dwarfed by what rival nations could provide.
Speaking on Monday, Hearn revealed that while his preference is to maintain the World Championship within the UK, there’s a chance it could move temporarily to Germany’s Tempodrom – the venue for the German Masters – for a year or two.
He said: “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.
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“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 significant influence over where the World Championship ends up in 2029, as they hold a contract to broadcast all Triple Crown events through to 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.
“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 remains a possibility, a number of other UK venues are also being considered. Alexandra Palace, which plays host to the World Darts Championship and snooker’s Masters, is one potential domestic option. London’s Olympia and Excel venues are also in the running, as is Manchester Central, which currently stages the Tour Championship.
Hearn added: “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?”
Looking further ahead, there is the possibility of extending the current Crucible Theatre agreement with Sheffield City Council by a further five years until 2050, should all parties reach an agreement.
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