"Some things can't be bought" Top stars reveal joy over World Snooker Championship Crucible stay
There is a very different feeling at this year's World Snooker Championship, with the future of the sport's blue riband event now secure at the Crucible Theatre.
It was announced last month that the World Snooker Championship will be staying at the iconic Crucible venue in Sheffield until at least 2045, with an initial extension option to 2050.
The annual tournament was first won in 1927 by Joe Davis, but it found a permanent home at the Crucible in 1977, and it has remained there ever since.
But in recent years, speculation had been rife over the future location of the event, with the previous Crucible contract due to expire in 2027.
With professional sport more commercial than ever before, the suitability of the Crucible's intimate 980-seat arena and limited backstage facilities had been brought into doubt for professional snooker’s flagship product.
Rumours circulated online about bigger UK venues taking over the mantle, or the competition even moving abroad to China, or a new emerging market such as Saudi Arabia who have taken an interest in the sport in recent years.
But all that hearsay was put to bed following the World Snooker Tour’s huge announcement about a long-term deal to stay put in South Yorkshire.
With the aid of local and central government intervention, not only will the event stay at its spiritual home, but the Crucible is set to undergo a huge facelift later this decade that will see its arena capacity increase by 50%.
The news has received overwhelming acclaim amongst the snooker fan community - although not everyone, it must be said - and it appears that the feeling is mutual amongst the majority of the world’s top players.
Higgins left ‘flabbergasted’ over the Crucible announcement
In a special feature shown by TNT Sports on the opening day of the 2026 World Snooker Championship, several of the sport’s most prominent figures have expressed their joy at the recent news.
John Higgins - who has tasted world championship glory at the Crucible on four occasions across three different decades - admitted to being shocked about the news, having believed that the event would be on the move after 2027.
The 50-year-old Scot said: “I was flabbergasted. I really did think it might have been moving from there.
“I really felt 2027 might have been the year that it would be moving. That would have been the 50th year that it would have been played there, and I thought that might have been its swansong.
“Every credit to everyone involved who got round the table and managed to make it happen.”
“Sheffield is like the home of snooker” says Selby
Neil Robertson and Mark Selby likened the link between snooker and the Crucible to that of other famous sporting venues and partnerships.
Australia’s Robertson - snooker king of the world in 2010 - said: “You want it to stay here at the home of snooker where it belongs. You can't take cricket out of Lords, you can't take Wimbledon out of Wimbledon - you can't do that.”
Four-time world champion and current UK Championship title holder Selby described: “Sheffield is like the home of snooker, like Wembley is to football, so I'm happy that it’s stayed there and can't wait to go back and give it another crack for sure.”
2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy added: “I was genuinely happy like a kid at Christmas to know that our future is secured at the Crucible. I get to go there for the rest of my life. Delighted.”
White says all the players are delighted with the stay
One of snooker’s and British sport’s most revered figures, Jimmy White has a longer relationship with the Crucible than most having appeared in six world finals there and being part of an exclusive band of players who have completed snooker perfection on the sport’s biggest stage with a maximum 147 break in 1992.
White, who still plys his trade on the top flight at the age of 63, said to TNT Sports: “I'm absolutely delighted. Some of these new players are turning professional have never played at the Crucible.
“Barry Hearn will be delighted that it’s staying here. All the players are.
“Snooker's been very good to Sheffield, and Sheffield has been very good to snooker. So some things can't be bought, like boxing in the Madison Square Garden, Wimbledon tennis, and I'm glad snooker's staying here.”
To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.