Wimbledon chief: “Significant investment” won’t impact future of British tennis
Ninety per cent of the profits from Wimbledon are passed on each year to the LTA. In the last year that the Championships were held, in 2019, Wimbledon handed over a surplus of Ā£45.7m, which helped the LTA to record an operating profit that year of Ā£8.7m. Even in 2020, when the Championships were cancelled, the British governing body received Ā£36m in lieu of the surplus thanks to the pandemic insurance taken out by the All England Club.
This year crowds at Wimbledon have initially been limited to 50 per cent of capacity, though a full house will be allowed on the final weekend. Although the drop in revenue has led to the All England Club cutting prize money by 5.2 per cent in comparison with 2019, it is having to meet many additional costs as a result of coronavirus safety measures insisted upon by the Government. For example, Wimbledon is having to pay out millions to accommodate all the players in a biosecure London hotel. The players usually pay for their own accommodation.
Chief Executive Sally Bolton admitted that reduced crowd numbers would have a notable impact on Wimbledon finances, as would additional costs which have been incurred . āThe most obvious example of that is the āminimised risk environmentā at the player hotels,ā she said. āThereās been quite a significant investment in terms of costs.
āBut we are in good financial health, so we donāt anticipate a significant impact on the surplus, though thereās still some detail to work through. Of course weāre incredibly pleased about that because we do take our responsibility towards British tennis very seriously.ā
- Keep up to date with all the breaking Wimbledon News
- Enjoy our exclusive & free ‘Guide to Wimbledon 2021′
- Order the bumper Wimbledon special issue of Tennishead magazine
- Follow our live commentary from all the biggest matches atĀ Wimbledon
- Donāt miss a thing with our Ā Live Scores service
- Follow Tennishead at WimbledonĀ on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube
- Join the tennishead CLUB and receive Ā£250/$350 of FREE GEAR including ASICS Gel-Resolution 8 trainers, shorts, shirt & socks
- EXCLUSIVE 5% DISCOUNT for all Tennishead readers on tennis rackets, balls, clothing, shoes & accessories with All Things Tennis, our dedicated tennis gear partner