Barry Hearn: Why uniquely sentimental Crucible decision was not unanimous

Barry Hearn says the decision for the World Snooker Championship to stay at the Crucible until 2045 was uniquely sentimental in his career and did come with a dissenting voice.

The tournament has been held at the Sheffield theatre since 1977 and the previous contract was due to expire in 2027, until a huge new agreement was reached between World Snooker Tour and Sheffield City Council.

There will now be £45m spent on the Crucible, which will see the venue renovated and expanded to around 1,500 seats, from its current capacity of just under 1,000.

The work will take around 18 months and start in the summer of 2028, meaning the 2029 and possibly 2030 editions will be held elsewhere, before returning to a revamped Crucible until 2045, with an option to extend to 2050.

While negotiations were ongoing, Matchroom Sport president Hearn talked up the possibilities of moving abroad to vast arenas, with the potential of huge investment from the Middle East or China.

Instead the tournament remains in the iconic, historic venue, which will be bigger and better than ever when the work is complete.

The 77-year-old admits feelings, and not just cold hard cash, played a part in the decision-making, having made his great career breakthrough in the venue as Steve Davis’ manager when the Nugget won the 1981 World Championship.

Asked if sentiment had ever played such a part in a big deal before, he said: ‘No, never, never.

‘The reason for that being my life changed in 1981 when [Steve] Davis won the world title. Matchroom was a £100 company. It was formed in 1982 on the back of a Crucible win. Suddenly I had someone to promote. He was a world champion.

‘Matchroom is now the biggest sports promotion company in the world. It all started with the Crucible, really.

‘So that’s where sentiment – mind you, I’m still a hard-nosed bastard. I want my pound of flesh out of everybody – but there’s certain things where you’d hate yourself for doing it.’

He added: ‘The Crucible has grown with us as Matchroom has become a global force, we did so on the back of the Crucible roots and we would have felt like we’d lost an arm had we not stayed here.’

There were lengthy negotiations over the extension of the tournament’s stay in Sheffield, with the significant investment in redevelopment coming from local and national government funding, along with money from the private sector

‘It was a good fight. At the end of the 12 rounds, the judges said it was a draw,’ Hearn said of the discussions. ‘And that’s not a bad result. We gave each other a hug: snooker, Sheffield Council, even the government. I never say anything nice about politicians, but well done to them.

‘They put their money where their mouth is, and they’ve managed to make this place fit for purpose.’

Tuesday’s announcement felt like a tremendously positive one for snooker and for Sheffield, but Hearn admits not everyone was in agreement to stay at the Crucible, notably his son Eddie, who is now chairman of Matchroom Sport.

Asked if there was anyone fighting against his sentiment, he said: ‘Oh yeah, there are. I wouldn’t say it was unanimous.

‘Eddie’s not a snooker fan. He likes the business of sport. So therefore he likes snooker because it’s a good company for us. But he doesn’t have the same passion. He wasn’t there.

‘That’s why he’s so passionate about boxing, because a lot of these big memories have made his career where he is. Whether it’s A.J. against Klitschko. That changed his life.

‘Eddie likes snooker, but he’s from a generation that moves at more speed than snooker does. That’s a good way to describe it.

‘He doesn’t actually appreciate the Agatha Christie side. Where you don’t find who does it until the final chapter. It builds to that moment.

‘Until you’ve actually experienced the building of that, you’re not really qualified to say, and he hasn’t experienced that.’

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