Barry Hearn says World Snooker Championship could be held in Germany for 2029 edition – ‘The best deal for us’

A new £45 million deal was announced last month for the iconic tournament to stay at the Crucible until at least 2045.

The arena is set to be revamped after the 2028 event, with up to 500 extra seats to be added, taking the capacity to around 1,500.

It does mean that the tournament will need to be staged at an alternative venue in 2029.

Hearn told reporters on Monday that his personal preference is for the event to stay in the UK, but he did also raise the prospect that the Tempodrom - venue for the popular annual German Masters event - could be a short-term home for the tournament.

Asked if he had a preference for any venue if the tournament did leave the UK, Hearn said: "I think if I had to choose, I would say Germany, and I would look and say well, maybe we should look at the Tempodrom.

"It's the same TV times as the UK virtually, an hour [difference], it has the ability to house 3,000 customers, but you know these are things that you evaluate in any business.

"Whatever business you're in, if you're trying to expand or you're trying to diversify, then you evaluate, and that's a process that will be continuing for the rest of this year, and then I'm sure World Snooker Board will sit down and [weigh up] one venue up against the other

"My personal feeling is I'd like it to stay in the UK."

Hearn also suggested on TNT Sports that the World Championship in 2029 doesn't necessarily need to be staged at a venue which currently hosts a snooker tournament.

Asked by Rachel Casey what his favourite venue was outside the Crucible, Hearn said: "Alexandra Palace, only because the darts is there and the Masters. That's a fine venue.

"There's also Olympia, there's also Excel, there's always Manchester. There's a lot of people in the event business coming on and saying, what about us?

"We've got to do the right deals, the best deal for us, for snooker, for the fans. And that's what we'll do.

"It's not going to be rushed. We don't rush deals. We end up with good deals."

On the table on day three of the World Championship, Ding Junhui beat David Gilbert 10-5 to set up a mouthwatering all-Chinese clash with world champion Zhao Xintong in the second round, which starts on Friday and will be shown live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

Hearn told reporters: "The talent from China is awesome and this great match you've got coming up, with Ding Junhui and Xintong, the old and the new, it's the narrative we all dream of as journalists or promoters."

You can watch every day of the 2026 World Championship live on TNT Sports.

It is available both live and on-demand on HBO Max.