Since 2010 Snooker under Barry Hearn has seen record winning prize money and the winner's share has skyrocketed in the six major ranking events by an average of 130%.
In the 2010/11 season, the calendar was limited to just 8 full major ranking events in the season, which included the Triple Crown Events, the UK Championship and the World Championship.
The others included the German Masters, which comes to fans screens next month for the 2018 edition, and, the China Open, which sees record prize money of £225K this year for the winner and, the Shanghai Masters, which was another great win for Ronnie O'Sullivan last year.
Ranking events have gone up from just 8 to a whopping 19 and that's testimony to the powers at be.
Watch Barry Hearn on the state of snooker in his own words in this video...Click play...
Real Growth
Here are a few facts on the growth in ten years of winner prize money across the six ranking events that have stood the test of time and survived under the Barry Hearn era.
1) WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
In 2010, the World Championship saw Neil Robertson lift the title as the second overseas player from outside the UK since Cliff Thorburn in 1980 in the Crucible era.
That year the Thunder from Down Under received a modest 250K for the win. This year at the Crucible, the jackpot prize will be a lucrative 425K.
That's a 70% increase between 2010 and 2018.
Within the next two to three years it should reach half a million for the winner.
2) UK CHAMPIONSHIPS
The same year the UK saw a player lift 100K for the top prize. Now, the winner in last year's UK, trousered a whopping £170K. That went to Ronnie O'Sullivan for the sixth time.
3) CHINA OPEN
In 2010/11, the China Open had a top prize of just 55K.
And, in 2018, this year, it will be a staggering 225K. That's a PI of 309%.
Ding Junhui sparked a revolution in snooker in China when he won the event in 2005 and it has never looked back.
4) GERMAN MASTERS
Anthony Hamilton next month defends his German Masters title. In 2010/11, the winner Mark J Williams received roughly 43K 50,000 Euros for scooping the prize.
Now in the upcoming 2018 edition, it's going to be 80K for the winner. That's another 86% increase within ten years.
The Tempodrom is a fans favourite as a venue and the German fans love watching their snooker in Berlin.
5) WELSH OPEN
The popular Welsh Open saw John Higgins pick up a modest £35K.
But, in the 2018 edition this year, someone will be picking up double that.
Again, that's a 100% increase.
6) SHANGHAI MASTERS
The Shanghai Masters is another popular event also among fans. It's 2010/11 edition saw its prize money for the winner go to £60,000. Last year's Shanghai saw Ronnie O'Sullivan lift it for the second time and he pocketed a hefty £150,000.
A PI increase of 150% since 2010.
These figures illustrate the significant growth of prize money across these six top main ranking events, not to mention all the other ranking tournaments that have been introduced on the calendar and also the Non-Ranking ones.
Sacrifice
The figures speak for themselves and there is no time better than to dare to dream about becoming a professional snooker player if you're good enough, work hard and follow your dreams.
Mark Allen dared to dream when he turned pro in 2005, and, 13 years of toil saw him last weekend, scoop a major Triple Crown trophy in the Dafabet Masters 2018.
This is the attraction of sport and it takes a dedicated handful to make their dreams come true.
There's no reason why you can't follow your dreams if you are prepared to make the sacrifice and reach for the top of the Rainbow.
With China's flagship tournament hitting the £1 million prize money with the winner trousering a hefty 225K this year, World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said on the World Snooker website: "This is a great deal for the players and their earning opportunities have never been better."
The China Open takes place just before the World Championships and the qualifying rounds begin at the end of this month on Jan 27 - 30th in Barnsley at the Metrodome.
