World Championship: Snooker tour to be revamped in 2016

The winner of the 2018 world title with earn £500,000 - an increase of £200,000 on this year

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn says there will be "casualties" after announcing a revamped tour from 2016.

Glasgow, Belfast and Manchester will host 'Home Series' ranking events, alongside the current Welsh Open.

The tour prize money will also increase from £8m this season to £8.5m in 2015-16 and £10m in 2016-17.

"There will always be players who criticise, depending on how it affects them, that's human nature," said Hearn, who took control of snooker in 2010.

"I need to think about the development of the sport. There will be casualties."

The prize money has increased from £3.5m since Hearn took over and he has now outlined plans to expand the sport further.

The 'Home Series' will see the introduction of Scottish, Irish and English Open tournaments, alongside the Welsh Open, which was established in 1992. If a player wins all those events, he will receive a £1m bonus.

All events apart from the World Championship with see a 128-person draw, but the showpiece 32-competitor event at the Crucible will be unchanged with regard to format, seedings and qualifying.

The winner of the world title will receive £500,000 from the 2017-18 season onwards, with this year's victor set to receive £300,000.