{"id":2343,"date":"2026-03-24T21:23:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:23:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=2343"},"modified":"2026-03-24T21:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:23:37","slug":"barry-hearn-why-uniquely-sentimental-crucible-decision-was-not-unanimous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=2343","title":{"rendered":"Barry Hearn: Why uniquely sentimental Crucible decision was not unanimous"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"646\" height=\"422\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-26054316\" alt=\"The Darts Championship At Alexandra Palace\" decoding=\"sync\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn says sentiment played a part in the new Crucible agreement (Picture: Getty Images for Sky Creative Brand )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>There will now be \u00a345m 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Instead the tournament remains in the iconic, historic venue, which will be bigger and better than ever when the work is complete.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019 manager when the Nugget won the 1981 World Championship.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/05-Snooker-dbf5.png?w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27649436\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>How the new Crucible design is expected to look<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Asked if sentiment had ever played such a part in a big deal before, he said: \u2018No, never, never. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018The reason for that being my life changed in 1981 when [Steve] Davis won the world title. Matchroom was a \u00a3100 company. It was formed in 1982 on the back of a Crucible win. Suddenly I had someone to promote. He was a world champion. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Matchroom is now the biggest sports promotion company in the world. It all started with the Crucible, really.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018So that\u2019s where sentiment \u2013 mind you, I\u2019m still a hard-nosed bastard. I want my pound of flesh out of everybody \u2013 but there\u2019s certain things where you\u2019d hate yourself for doing it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u2018The 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\u2019d lost an arm had we not stayed here.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>There were lengthy negotiations over the extension of the tournament\u2019s stay in Sheffield, with the significant investment in redevelopment coming from local and national government funding, along with money from the private sector<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was a good fight. At the end of the 12 rounds, the judges said it was a draw,\u2019 Hearn said of the discussions. \u2018And that\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They put their money where their mouth is, and they\u2019ve managed to make this place fit for purpose.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if there was anyone fighting against his sentiment, he said: \u2018Oh yeah, there are. I wouldn\u2019t say it was unanimous. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Eddie\u2019s not a snooker fan. He likes the business of sport. So therefore he likes snooker because it\u2019s a good company for us. But he doesn\u2019t have the same passion. He wasn\u2019t there. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-1192565876.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-27650230\" alt=\"Andy Ruiz Jr v Anthony Joshua 2 - Clash on the Dunes, IBF, WBA, WBO &amp; IBO World Heavyweight Title Fight\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\t<\/div><figcaption>Eddie Hearn has enjoyed immense success in boxing, with the likes of Anthony Joshua (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018That\u2019s why he\u2019s so passionate about boxing, because a lot of these big memories have made his career where he is. Whether it\u2019s A.J. against Klitschko. That changed his life. <\/p>\n<p>\u2018Eddie likes snooker, but he\u2019s from a generation that moves at more speed than snooker does. That\u2019s a good way to describe it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He doesn\u2019t actually appreciate the Agatha Christie side. Where you don\u2019t find who does it until the final chapter. It builds to that moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Until you\u2019ve actually experienced the building of that, you\u2019re not really qualified to say, and he hasn\u2019t experienced that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan admits World Championship doubt after shock defeat<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan denied snooker history by Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in wild World Open final<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"\/><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan still \u2018not feeling great\u2019 despite making snooker history with 153 break at World Open<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\">\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"\/><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card accent--sport\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card__inner\">\n<h4>Football Newsletter \u2013 In The Mixer<\/h4>\n<p>Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro&#8217;s football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Barry Hearn: Why uniquely sentimental Crucible decision was not unanimous<br \/>\n<br \/>#Barry #Hearn #uniquely #sentimental #Crucible #decision #unanimous<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matchroom Sport president Barry Hearn says sentiment played a part in the new Crucible agreement&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2122,2126,314,2123,2125,2127,2124],"class_list":["post-2343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-barry","tag-crucible","tag-decision","tag-hearn","tag-sentimental","tag-unanimous","tag-uniquely"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-768x403.jpg",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-1024x538.jpg",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283.jpg",1200,630,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-1115x630.jpg",1115,630,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-800x500.jpg",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2190099191_add1a9_1774379283-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=6\" rel=\"category\">Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}