Wimbledon Tennis Championships is here again, the two week prestigious sporting event creating a buzz as always.

We take a look a look at how much money goes into creating the most prestigious tennis event in the world.

 

Tickets

Obtaining a ticket for Wimbledon is not an easy task, their method to provide a fair ticketing system through a public ballot means there is a chance you will go without. You are placed in a draw where you will be pulled out fairly for any match or day during the two week event. You are usually notified in the November before the event, so if you are interested in next year get prepared.

Alternatively, Wimbledon is one of the few major sporting events to sell tickets on the day of matches. The queue will often begin the evening before and increase through the day, of course the closer you are to the front the higher your chances are. This year Wimbledon are encouraging those in the queue to download the Wimbledon app and create an account. This allows them to be checked into the queue, given a number and keep updated on the day.

Ticket prices range for each court and the day of the match. At the beginning of the event, day one tickets for centre court were prices at £90 however for the final day tickets for this court are £275.

Tickets for grounds passes are set to be £20 for Sunday matches.

 

Prize money

Players at Wimbledon are in with a  chance of winning large and this increases each year. In 1968 for the first Wimbledon event the total prize money came to a total of £26,150 which includes those in all categories.

This year the prize money will come to £50,000,000 which includes the £2.7m given to the each of the winners in the women’s and men’s singles matches.

 

How they make money

Wimbledon generate their revenue mainly from selling broadcasting and media rights to TV operators and networks. In 2022, media rights were reportedly upwards of £175m which will increase each year as views increase. In 2023, the BBC streaming sites received 54.3 million people watching.

Tickets, merchandise and concessions is also a huge party of making money as in 2023 they had 532,651 guests watching the matches.

As the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world there is no doubt that the revenue created from sponsorships is also a large contributor. Wimbledon typically has 17 deals with large brands which benefit from exposure to large groups of people, setting their placement and some even have their own lounges inviting guests to their luxury spaces at Wimbledon.

One of their longest standing sponsors is Rolex taking the title of Wimbledon’s Official Timekeeper since 1978.

Other sponsors include, Slazenger, Ralph Lauren, Evian, Lavazza, American Express and more.