Barry Hearn makes final ultimatum to Crucible chiefs on World Snooker Championships future

Barry Hearn has fired a stern warning to Sheffield Council as he says - I don't take Anthony Joshua to York Hall, so why should I take snooker's top stars to the Crucible?

The Matchroom boss told The Barry Hearn Show that Sheffield only has three years left to retain its status as the home of snooker, claiming that a modern venue is pivotal for its future. Hearn, reaffirming his stance from an earlier BBC interview this year, admitted that the iconic Crucible Theatre in its current state is no longer up to scratch.

Hearn said: "I have to live in the real world. It's why I don't do pay-per-view shows or Anthony Joshua fights at York Hall, Bethnal Green. I think York Hall is the greatest fight atmosphere venue in the world, it's just not fit for purpose."

"And the Crucible is not fit for purpose. When you go backstage, today's audience wants different things. They want better hospitality. They want more space.

"The players want more things. They want more practice room. They want extra tables. The press and the media want to have more, the list goes on.

"The hardliners say 'I've been here since I was a boy. I was here with my grandad who's long since passed', I'm sympathetic to that. The Crucible made me.

"I want to stay in Sheffield, and I've told the Sheffield City Council numerous occasions over the last few years. They have three more years. I will move."

"Sheffield City Council have a job to do. One, they can ignore the billions of pounds of investment that's gone into Sheffield on the back of snooker. The number of Chinese companies in Sheffield where they have snooker? We go, they're off. Two, they can play hardball. We will go."

"Or three, my favourite, is they will build me a new venue in Sheffield, our home. They will call it the New Crucible if they wish, or they can call it the Crucible and change the name of the theatre that's still there that does a wonderful job for fringe theatre.

"We're mainstream, and they have to accept we're mainstream. I need three thousand tickets per session, not eight hundred, as part of my plan to try and keep the World Championships in England."

Hearn also knows there is a challenge to maintain the demands of higher prize money, with threats of breakaway leagues still lingering. "The player's prize money has gone up," Hearn said. "It's £2.5million but it's not enough. In today's world of sport, it won't be taken seriously.

"It won't inspire people. That prize money needs to be £5million, £10million. It certainly needs to be bigger than The Open golf. Should it be the same size as Wimbledon? Why not? We are probably as important an event in terms of global TV audience.

"We attract nearly five hundred million people on TV. We're a major British export of sport, the World Snooker Championships. So, therefore, everybody has to up their game.

"Broadcasters have to pay more money if they want to keep it. I don't want to leave anybody. I want to stay with my friends and the people that are supporting me.

"But if I have that type of respect for them, they must have that type of respect for me. And they've got to pay me market value because in turn, I have to supply market value prize money."