phosphorusPicture the scene. Live sports are on the big screen, deck chairs are set up on the artificial turf, and the beer is flowing. It sounds like a scene during one of the continent’s major football tournaments: but it’s a gray, overcast Friday morning in Sheffield city centre.
Tudor Square is the part of Sheffield where the Crucible Theater is located, and is, perhaps appropriately, referred to as the “heart of the city” in tourist information around town. Because for two weeks every year, snooker and its most iconic venues are the beating heart of Sheffield – at least for now.
One thing is clear: the world championships will be held at Sheffield’s Crucible Theater until at least 2027. besides? who knows. Rumors have persisted of moving the event to a venue larger than the Crucible’s 980-capacity venue, but with Saudi Arabia now making a major push into the snooker scene, the threat of the event leaving Sheffield feels very real.
For snooker purists, this will be a blow. For the city itself, it will be even bigger. Sheffield City Council said the two-week event brings millions of pounds into the local economy each year, making it an asset the council is determined to retain beyond its current contract.
Kate Josephs, chief executive of Sheffield City Council, said: “Sheffield is the birthplace of snooker, just like Wimbledon is the birthplace of tennis and Aintree is the birthplace of the Nations Cup. “The World Snooker Championship and the Sheffield Championship go hand in hand.
“The atmosphere on offer at the Crucible Theater is unparalleled. It’s an experience you can’t get anywhere else. In recent weeks we’ve heard players such as Tom Ford, Sean Murphy and Barry Hawkins describe playing at the venue It’s a magical mood. Sean says this theater is “one of the best in the world” and it’s “home” to the sport, and we couldn’t agree more.
Sheffield’s loss of the snooker tournament will not only affect the Crucible, but also dozens of local businesses near the theater that thrive at this time of year. Conor McEwen is the manager of Marmadukes, an independent cafe a few yards from the Sheffield players’ entrance. He estimates his revenue increased by about 25 percent throughout the event.
“This is a big deal,” he said. “We plan it every year and it’s a huge event. Sometimes on the weekends when it’s on we can get around 40% up. Our business out there is pretty busy so we’re not completely reliant on it but if it moves Elsewhere, it would be a huge loss.
“Before the morning games, everyone would come in for breakfast around 8am, and they were all snooker fans. By 9.30am we were empty, but then people started coming for the afternoon sessions. For the area This is a big deal for many businesses, not just ours, and local bars and restaurants see a similar surge in revenue this time of year.
But there are not only financial ramifications, but also emotional ramifications. Some of them sat in a specially designed spectator area outside the Crucible on Friday morning to watch Stuart Bingham and Jack Jones play in the afternoon. They arrived early to make the most of the day by watching the semifinal match between David Gilbert and Kyren Wilson on the big screen.
Two of them, Neil and Michael, first came to the Crucible with their father in the 1980s and continue to make the trip an annual tradition. “It was probably out of our budget to do it in Saudi Arabia – after a few pints the train home was as far as we could go,” laughs Neil.
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“I know everything comes at a price, but for a lot of people, coming here and watching snooker is something we’ve done for years,” Michael said. “It’s hard to imagine feeling the same anywhere else.”
So what happens next? Former World Snooker Association chairman and Matchroom owner Barry Hearn said the governing body would consider all options at home and overseas, even pleading with Sheffield City Council to build a 3,000-seat venue to host the tournament. In the short term, it will remain in its spiritual home; after that, the future is more uncertain.
“As snooker grows, so does Sheffield – the city center is undergoing a massive £470m transformation with a new world-class hotel, more restaurants, cafes and entertainment venues,” Joseph Si said. “We are in regular contact with the World Snooker Tour and meet with them before, during and after every match – and we will continue to discuss with them the way forward that suits us all.”
No matter what happens, things will continue. But it was clear from just one morning in Sheffield that if the event left this part of the world it would have a far greater local impact than it would have on the few hundred people lucky enough to get tickets.
