The World Championship is staying at the Crucible long into the future, and millions of snooker fans will be toasting this brilliant news.
In a world where cold hard commercial decisions often trump sentiment, this feels like something of a novelty.
It's all happened in that room. In the early days, Terry Griffiths telling David Vine, "I'm in the final now, you know" and Alex Higgins mouthing, "baby, my baby".
There was Dennis Taylor and his waggling finger after the most famous frame ever played. Stephen Hendry "annoying" Jimmy White time and time again. And more recently, Ronnie O'Sullivan's seemingly endless embrace with Judd Trump.
The World Championship at the Crucible isn't just treasured by snooker fans, but by general sports lovers throughout Britain and around the world.
The tournament is a touchstone in our lives. Spring means Sheffield and its iconic 17-day marathon.
There are so many special venues in snooker, of course there are. But it's the Crucible where dreams are really made, where players stand tall.
There has been a great deal of angst among fans for years over whether the tournament would move elsewhere after 2027. The uncertainty felt stifling at times, and dominated the narrative during the tournament far too often.
That ends now. We have learned that the Crucible is to be redeveloped after the 2028 World Championship – the tournament is set to have a brief sojourn elsewhere – with the event then staying at a revamped arena until at least 2045.
We journalists always act like we've seen it all, but my eyebrows certainly raised when I first heard the length of the deal and I wasn't alone.
My initial reaction is that the cost of the refurbishment, £45million, doesn't seem a great amount of money when you consider the work that needs to be done, nor indeed the significance of the moment.
It might just be however that I've just spent too long covering football. A lot of things seem like a drop in the ocean compared with the silly numbers in that sport.
I said years ago on the Talking Snooker podcast that I reckoned it only needed about 300-400 extra seats for the concerns over capacity to go away. As it happens, we're getting 500 extra.
That's fine in my book. You don't need a monster arena. Alexandra Palace has more than 2,000 seats for the Masters and it's a terrific event, but I've been on the back row watching and you do feel somewhat distant from the action. That has never been the case at the Crucible and never will be.
'Part of this sport's identity'
I've said countless times that going to the World Championship at the Crucible feels more like a pilgrimage than a mere visit or trip. It's lovely to think that so many more snooker disciples will be able to watch on at that hallowed arena long into the future.
Not that I think it's a guarantee that every session sells out to its 1,500 capacity by the way. But that's a topic for another day.
This is immense news for the city of Sheffield, a place I've come to love having been visiting for more than 30 years. It almost feels like home for those two weeks.
I've been so impressed with the way Tudor Square is now utilised during the tournament. It felt like being at a music festival at times during those boiling hot days last spring.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a further expansion of facilities outside the arena and in different parts of the city. I think the vast majority of Sheffield residents will be delighted with this news and I'm pleased for them.
With this seismic announcement still being digested by fans, I suspect the forthcoming 2026 tournament will be a joyous one. A proper carnival. If you're thinking about going, and have both the means and the time, do it.
The Crucible is part of this sport's identity. Many a time I've been in places with people who know little about snooker, but know the name of that beloved arena.
The World Championship would have survived elsewhere. It might even have fared well. But I can't believe any other venue would give it the same gravitas.
The Crucible has the acoustics of a theatre and an atmosphere like no other. There's no hiding place there. It's where the greats really make their mark.
Jim Callaghan was Prime Minister when the World Championship was first played at the Crucible in 1977. Now another Labour PM, Sir Keir Starmer, has made a telling contribution to the tournament staying put for the next generation. Make no mistake, Starmer's involvement was vital.
So the story goes on. We'll celebrate 50 years at the Crucible in 2027 and we now know the tournament will be at its famous home for decades to come.
Sport may only be the most important of the least important things, but in a world that seems to serve up unrelenting bad news these days, we'll take this.
Snooker and the Crucible. It's always been a match made in heaven. Long may they have each other.