The World Snooker Championships are starting from Saturday and are being hosted in the Sheffield Crucible for the 47th year running.
A BBC studio has been set up in the Peace Gardens in the city centre for analysis in between frames and sessions of the match coverage.
The tour has been held in the Crucible since 1977, but Alex Pickering, 31, a vision engineer for the BBC coverage team who lives in Sheffield, told us that there has been talk of it moving to Saudi Arabia or China.
He said: “For me personally, it would be a shame if it left.
“I think its best staying here, you know. Keeping the heritage of it [and] the history of it.
“But money talks I suppose.”
The championship puts Sheffield on the world stage, bringing in tourism and revenue for surrounding areas of Sheffield.
Jed Penbarthy, 25, a snooker fan from Exeter currently living in Sheffield, said: “Going to see snooker in person, especially at the Crucible, is such an amazing experience. It’s so tightly packed in, and the atmosphere is fantastic.
“If they were to lose the atmosphere that Sheffield, and certainly the Crucible, brings to world snooker then that’s going to be quite a big shame.”
Eddie Hearn, the chairman of Matchroom Sport, has such strong bonds with the Middle East that some fans say it would be “silly” not to think that Saudi Arabia had not been considered for the new home of the Snooker World Tour.
Penbarthy added: “The world championships have been in Sheffield since the 70s, this is the home of snooker.
“So, for it to be moved about and for Matchroom to put the pressure on the council to build a new venue or move to another venue in Sheffield in such a short period of time, it’s a bit frustrating for snooker fans, particularly British snooker fans.”
The championships will take place from the 20th of April to the 6th of May, with favourited competitors such as Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is chasing an eighth world championship title, and Judd Trump, the current world number one.