There are only four months left until the players return to the Crucible Theatre for the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
Kyren Wilson will be back as the defending champion having got his hands on the sport’s blue-riband trophy for the first time in May.
The Kettering cueist will be joined by his fellow top 16 members and an additional 16 qualifiers who manage to make it through the exhilarating preliminary competition in Sheffield.
But a new edition of the World Snooker Championship will inevitably reignite the debate surrounding the future of its venue, the Crucible Theatre.
Every World Championship since 1977 has been held at the iconic stage, but the current contract to remain there expires in 2027.
There has been ongoing speculation and rumours as to where snooker’s biggest tournament might end up beyond that.
Many insist that the World Snooker Championship should always stay within the intimate setting of the Crucible, which has created many of the game’s most historic moments.
There are others, however, who believe that the high-profile tournament has outgrown a venue that is limited in size and potential.
Other venues in the UK, across mainland Europe, and notably into Saudi Arabia and China have been touted as potential future destinations.
It is undoubtedly the hottest topic in snooker at the moment, and opinions from fans and players alike are constantly driving debate.
Elliot Slessor, a semi-finalist at the recent Northern Ireland Open, believes something has to change in order to improve the prize fund for players up and down the rankings.
“I might upset some people here, but I’ll tell you a spade’s a spade, and I like to tell you the truth,” world number 30 Elliot Slessor said on The Snooker Hall Podcast.
“I’ve played there twice. Obviously, it’s an iconic venue. But in the grand scheme of things, they are on about making it a global sport and growing the game.”
“Fair enough to keep it at the Crucible if you put the prize money up. But the prize money has stayed the same the last eight years for qualifying.
“That doesn’t seem like a growing game to me. That’s the pinnacle, that’s the Everest of your sport.
“You’ve got other countries that are rumoured to be giving millions to the winner.
“I’m not being funny, but I’m going to do some maths for you. The winner this year got £500,000.
“He’s got tax out of that, he’s got 2.5% to World Snooker out of that, he might also have to pay a coach or a manager or something out of that.
“So let’s say he takes £300-350,000 out of that. You can’t even buy a nice house in London for that.
“And that’s the Everest of the game. You’ve climbed the biggest stage, done every person’s childhood dream, and you’re not a millionaire out of it.
“That blows my brains. Considering if that’s the pinnacle of the sport in a game as big as snooker, you should be a millionaire, in my opinion.
“In the other countries that are offering to put this on, the figures I’m hearing through other players is that they are on about making it millions for the winner.
“So don’t get us wrong. I’ve no problem with it staying at the Crucible, but the prize money has to stack up. It can’t stay the same.
“But I also feel sorry for people missing out on it as well, because I think it only seats 985 or something – just less than 1,000.
“There are a lot of people who want to watch it, and there’s nowhere to build on top of it.
“I understand the history, but history doesn’t pay bills. It simply doesn’t pay bills.
“If the lads further down are qualifying and getting £20,000, and they take it Saudi or Shanghai or wherever it may be, and it’s £100,000 for qualifying, I think it’s going to sell itself.
“From what Barry [Hearn] says, he wants the game to grow. I think it’ll be a matter of time before it leaves the Crucible in my opinion.”
The 2025 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre is scheduled for April 19th to May 5th next year.
Featured photo credit: WST
