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Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn has revealed that Saudi Arabia could fund a major expansion of The Crucible, home of the World Snooker Championship, with the potential construction of a new 3,000-seat arena.
The Crucible, which is located in Sheffield, has a capacity of 980 and has a contract to host the World Snooker Championship until 2027.
Recent reports have suggested that the event could move to Saudi Arabia, which has established ties with Matchroom Sport after recently agreeing a 10-year deal to host snooker’s ‘fourth major’.
The inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will take place in Riyadh from August 31 to September 7. February’s announcement came after the World Snooker Tour in January struck a deal to stage an invitational event in Saudi Arabia as part of the Riyadh Season calendar.
In an interview with Telegraph Sport, Hearn has now revealed that Saudi Arabia could support an expansion of The Crucible, as opposed to hosting the event itself.
The newspaper has reported that a 3,000-seat arena across the road from the current venue is being explored. The existing arena would be retained and matches would take place at both venues in a move that is being described as similar to the Centre Court and No.1 Court at Wimbledon.
British architect James Burland has released renderings of a potential 3,000-seat venue, which would be built on the site of the O2 Academy in Sheffield.
Last month, Riyadh Season was announced as an official partner of the World Snooker Championship. At the time, Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the board of directors at Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, suggested that the country could one day “do something huge” in England.
Hearn has now told Telegraph Sport that this could lead to the GEA working with Matchroom Sport to build a new arena for the World Snooker Championship. “It doesn’t necessarily follow that the event has to be in Saudi,” he said.
The report added that Burland has been working with Peter Bainbridge on a design for a second arena in Sheffield, with 3,000 viewed as the maximum capacity. The arena could cost around £50m (€58.2m/$62.7m) to build.
“I’m aware of the building,” Hearn said. “It’s an interesting building. And, like everything else, these are the types of things I’d love to sit down and discuss.”
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