By Laurence Kilgannon, Yorkshire Correspondent
Celebrity sports promoter Barry Hearn has told Insider this year’s World Snooker Championship has racked up record sales for what he expects to be the most competitive tournament in the event’s history. Hearn declared “Sheffield is the city of snooker now not the city of steel” and said the sport has brought millions of pounds into the city’s economy.
“Ticket sales this year are well-advanced on anything we’ve ever done before,” said Hearn.
“They are record sales and the last 15 sessions are already sold out. We’re very pleased with that.”
The £1.1m prize money Championship, sponsored by Betfred and in receipt of a rights fee from the BBC, is broadcast to a 700 million-stong TV audience, according to Hearn, who said the tournament was one of the UK’s gala sporting events.
“When we talk about the spring/summer of British sport, we talk about Wimbledon, the Boat Race, the Grand National and about World Snooker. It’s right up there with the major listed events.”
Hearn said both Sheffield City Council and Visit Yorkshire had embraced the tournament and the economic impact and profile it brought to the city.
“The tens of thousands of people who come to Sheffield over the 20 days are staying in local hotels, buying meals in restaurants and buying a drink in local pubs.”
And although the World Championship is the blue riband event, Hearn cited the presence of snooker’s academy in the city, where qualifying rounds are hosted, in support of his claim that “Sheffield is the city of snooker now not the city of steel.
“Snooker brings in millions of pounds of revenue over the year into Sheffield, culminating in this huge event in the last two weeks of April.”
The Crucible-staged tournament is also the centrepiece of World Snooker’s revenues, as Hearn explained.
“It’s our biggest event, no question about that.
“Usually, as you find in all sport, as the bigger events get bigger they help pay for all the smaller events.
“We don’t release specific profit figures, but it accounts for a substantial amount of our year-end profit and fuels the 20-odd other events around the world in terms of the globalisation of snooker as it’s all centred around Sheffield.”