Barry Hearn sets World Snooker Championship prize money target following Crucible deal

With the Crucible set to expand and remain the home of the World Snooker Championship until at least 2045, players will be hoping for a boost in prize money to follow.

The Sheffield theatre is set for a £45m revamp, which will see the capacity increased by 500 seats, from its current number of just under 1,000.

The majority of the investment has come from local and central government, with £10m provided by the public sector.

A new deal was announced on Tuesday which will keep the sport’s biggest event at the Crucible until 2045, apart from a trip elsewhere in 2029 and possibly 2030 while the renovation works are carried out.

With the World Championship’s future now secure and ticket revenues from the event set to increase in the improved arena, the players will be putting pressure on snooker bosses to boost prize money.

Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn suggests that is next on the agenda, saying at the Crucible on Tuesday: ‘I think where we’ve ended up, we can start looking now at prize money. We’ve got to make sure that goes up as well.’

When he won the World Darts Championship in January, Luke Littler landed a £1m top prize, the biggest in the history of the sport.

Zhao Xintong won £500,000 when he conquered the Crucible last year, with the winner’s prize set at that amount since Judd Trump’s triumph in 2019.

Hearn says snooker will reach the £1m stage at some point, but not just yet and there is likely to be an announcement on prize money during the upcoming World Championship which starts next month.

‘Yes, we will. We will definitely see it. But it will take a little while,’ Hearn said of a £1m top prize.

‘It’s very difficult to compare darts and snooker. Darts has been something that in my 50 years I’ve never seen anything like. The rights fees from TV are far bigger than any other sport. Bigger than any other sport because most rights fees are going down. Ours are going up: 300 per cent, 250 per cent around the world. So they’ve got it now. But snooker is on that (curve).

‘And I think this deal inspires me to think, well, we’ve got to get to that. We won’t get to it in one jump. But I think we’ll have some sort of plan in a few weeks’ time to be able to share with you during the Crucible.’

The total prize fund at the World Championship is £2,395,000 and Hearn wants that to more than double to £5m ‘as quickly as possible’.

‘We need to be better at World Snooker in raising more money and making sure the prize money goes as quickly as possible up to a minimum of £5million.

‘And then, who knows? This new involvement in China is creating so many opportunities for snooker’s IP (intellectual property). Not just events, but things like cues and accessories, clothing ranges, health drinks. It’s time for us now to take our brand, and our IP value, and get that wonderful thing I love better than anything else in the world, making money when you’re asleep.

‘As you go to bed, you go, “Beijing, you’re open for business. Phone me in the morning”.’

The Crucible announcement has been met with delight in the snooker world, with the World Championship staying where it has been since 1977.

Hearn did admit that there was sentiment involved in the deal and there could have been more money made with a move elsewhere.

Asked if he had a message for any players who would rather have moved elsewhere for higher earnings, he said: ‘My message is: “Enjoy snooker. Play it, mate. When you’re ready to run a business, I’ll let you know. Get your head down. Practice.

‘Everyone can have an opinion. You were born to be a snooker player. World Snooker was born to run businesses and we’re not bad”.’

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