SNOOKER world champions could earn £1million in prize money once the Crucible has been finally refurbished.
The famous Sheffield theatre will be the home of the sport until at least 2045 following a landmark agreement announced on Tuesday between the city council and World Snooker Tour (WST).
Had the event gone elsewhere – to somewhere like China or money-bags Saudi Arabia – then baize bosses could have potentially dished out more cash to players.
Chinese cueist Zhao Xintong, 28, was crowned world champion last year for the first time and he earned £500,000 for winning five main-draw matches.
In comparison, Luke Littler, the reigning world darts champion, received seven figures for lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy for a second time in January.
Barry Hearn, president of Matchroom, wants to double the prize money for snooker over the next five years.
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And while a significant prize-money announcement will be made next month, the likelihood of it doubling will probably happen when the Crucible has been redeveloped in 2031, following the addition of 500 extra seats in the arena.
Asked if one day we could witness a £1million winners’ cheque in snooker, the veteran sports promoter, 77, said: “Yes. We will definitely see it.
“But it will take a little while. It’s very difficult to compare darts and snooker.
“Darts has been something that in my 50 years I’ve never seen anything like. And the rights fees from TV are far bigger than any other sport.
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“Bigger than any other sport because most rights fees are going down. Ours are going up – 250-300 per cent around the world.
“But snooker is on that (curve). And I think this Crucible deal inspires me to think, well, we’ve got to get to that level. We’ve got to get to that.
“We won’t get to it in one jump. But we’ll have some sort of plan in a few weeks’ time to be able to share with you during the Crucible.
“It looks to me like the blue-riband events are so institutionally acceptable now. BBC coverage around the world, massive Chinese coverage on CCTV, big ticket sales, massive, massive events.
“Those prize monies have now got to start being pushed up rapidly.
“We’ve got to make sure that goes up as well. And at the end of the day, most sports are about money.”
Many of the top players – like Mark Willams, Kyren Wilson and Neil Robertson – have backed the decision to stay in Sheffield for the next two decades.
No high-profile snooker player has yet to say publicly that staying at the Crucible was the wrong call, though SunSport knows of some who are not entirely happy with the decision.
Should anyone voice their criticisms then Hearn has a simple response to the moaners.
Hearn said: “My message is: Enjoy snooker. Play it, mate. When you’re ready to run a business, I’ll let you know. Never.
“Get your head down. Practice. Everyone can have an opinion. You were born to be a snooker player.
“The World Snooker Tour was born to run businesses. And we’re not bad. People, you know, they always moan. It’s actually a part of sport.”
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
- 2025 – Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins