WHY WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP SHOULD NEVER LEAVE SHEFFIELD

Five years from the end of the contract (2027) with the Crucible to host the World Snooker Championship, talks of the event leaving Sheffield have gathered strength. WST’s president Steve Dawson told the BBC that they’ll do business and negotiate whether they’ll renew the deal, as he views the Crucible is getting “small” as the event gets “bigger and bigger”. 

I’ll talk about the Crucible in a moment, but first here’s why I think snooker’s blue riband event should never leave Sheffield:

The city is the snooker capital of the World. If you’ve ever had a chance to pay a visit, you’ll know that it’s all about the snooker in Sheffield. And that’s something we will never be able to build anywhere else. Not because of the 45 years of history we have in Sheffield, but because it’s a city that grew around snooker.

When the World Championship arrived there in the 70’s snooker was already getting big, but in the 80’s the city found itself home of the biggest sporting event in Britain. Sheffield has therefore grown a lot in the last 40 years and, although the event is not the UK’s main attention anymore, it is Sheffield’s. 

London, Berlin or Beijing would be usual contenders to hold our main event, but I think they can already work (and they do work very well) with the share of snooker they already get. 

As for the Crucible as a venue, I understand we get many bigger arenas these days and because of it I think Neil has a point when he says we could do with a secondary venue in Sheffield to host the event Wimbledon-style. But at the same time, I think that 1,000 seats is just ideal for snooker, given that it’s a sport that you’d like to watch from a close view and the Crucible is impeccable in that regard.

Also I think that looking at alternatives is trying to fix something that’s working perfectly. I say that because when you look at the World Championship as an event, it’s way bigger than any other snooker event we have on the calendar in all regards (popularity, viewing figures, engagement, news-worthy, etc). The Masters was fantastic this year and well done for everyone involved in putting that together, but the Crucible has responded this year with a remarkable atmosphere within. 

Snooker is getting bigger as a sport and as a marketing product every season, but it’s not like the rest of the season is leaving the World Championship behind, in fact they have some catching up to do. London and Ally Pally have done a wonderful job for the Masters. I’m not sure if it would work the same way for the World Championship, but it’s establishing itself as home of the Masters and I think we can enjoy that without looking for problems. 

What’s your opinion on this?

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