Barry Hearn has admitted he let his heart rule his head for the first time in his career after securing a new long-term deal to keep the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield until at least 2045, with an option to extend to 2050. The tournament has been held at the 980-seat venue since 1977, and the agreement includes a £45m government-funded renovation after the 2028 event, adding 500 seats to increase capacity to 1,500.
Hearn, president of Matchroom Sport, acknowledged that the deal was influenced by personal sentiment, recalling how Steve Davis's 1981 title win at the Crucible led to the formation of Matchroom. He said: 'My life changed in 1981 when Steve Davis won the title here. Matchroom was a £100 company formed off the back of a Crucible win that is now the biggest sports promotion company in the world.' He added that losing the venue would have been devastating: 'We would have felt like we’d lost an arm had we not stayed here.'
The decision came despite Hearn's previous calls for a completely rebuilt Crucible with at least 3,000 seats, amid interest from Saudi Arabia and China. He admitted that without the government funding, a move was likely. 'There was a stage when if Sheffield didn’t get the money, they probably couldn’t rebuild: and if they couldn’t rebuild we would have had to leave,' he said.
Hearn hinted that the deal was not universally popular, noting that his son Eddie, who runs Matchroom, was among those who preferred a move. 'Eddie is not a snooker fan, he likes the business of sport. He doesn’t have the same passion because he wasn’t there,' Hearn said, adding that Eddie's passion lies in boxing. Despite this, Hearn emphasised that the Crucible remains irreplaceable: 'Without the Crucible, snooker just isn’t the same.'
