Barry Hearn: European golf tour the template to follow

Barry Hearn is the man who had everyone going snooker loopy in the eighties as television coverage of the sport boomed on the back of his stable of star players such as Steve Davis.

There was never a colourful character or a big match far from mainstream screens as Alex Higgins was the pantomime villain to Davis’ Prince Charming, along with courtiers such as Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths, and a whole host of entertainers in bow ties and frilly shirts.

After a dip in fortunes, snooker is back in the big time and Hearn now runs all the commercial operations for World Snooker. This year the World Championship marks the 30th anniversary of the ‘black ball’ final between Essex lad Davis and genial Irishman Taylor, which was watched by 18.5m viewers on BBC Two even though the match finished well past midnight.