Wimbledon Announces Record Prize Money Amid Player Dispute

Wimbledon has announced the biggest prize money increase in the history of the Championships, but this significant rise still may not be enough to appease the demands of the top tennis players in dispute with the grand slam tournaments.

The All England Club revealed a prize-money purse of £64.2m, a 20% increase from last year and a £10.7m rise. There have been rises across all rounds, with the men’s and women’s champions receiving £3.6m prize money this year while players who lose in the first round will receive £80,000.

“I believe what has been decided this year is the biggest uplift ever in quantum terms,” said Debbie Jevans, the chair of the All England Club. “And we’re proud to be able to do that through how we run the championships in such a sustainable way.”

This increase represents roughly 15% of the revenue generated by the Championships, a figure that may not satisfy the player group, which pushed for a 16% revenue share for this year’s Championships in meetings with the All England Club during the French Open. This would have translated to around £71m in prize money. The players have advocated for the revenue shares to eventually reach 22%.

During the press conference, Jevans described herself as frustrated by the player group’s fixation on tournament revenues, considering the All England Club is not for profit and the rest of its revenues are directed towards grassroots tennis, infrastructure on the tournament grounds and other grass-court tournaments.

“We’ve always been clear that we’re on the side of the players and we want to have a fantastic Wimbledon,” Jevans said. “But using revenue to determine prize money, it just makes no sense. And we have said that to Larry Scott.

“Revenue does not take into account the contributions that we give. And as I’ve spoken about, we’re not for profit. We’re very different to the Masters 1000s in that everything goes back in the sport.

“So I am frustrated that that message hasn’t gotten across. But we have constant dialogue with Larry in this regard and we’re hoping that message will get across for the players to understand the investment back into the game which is so very, very important and that allows us to be sustainable and will do into the future.”

The pre-Championships media briefing is often an unspectacular event, but this year the press conference with Sally Bolton and Jevans, the Wimbledon chief executive and chair, has been widely anticipated due to the player group’s decision to enact a media boycott of the French Open, with most top players limiting their participation in the pre-tournament media day to just 15 minutes.

In a reflection of the urgency of this topic, Jevans opened the press conference by addressing this issue, insisting that the players remained the tournament’s priority and that this is also reflected in the significant amount of money invested in improving the infrastructure of the grounds at the All England Club.

There are significant changes to the All England Club this year with the opening of a new level in the Millenium Building, which houses a number of player facilities. “These developments are the direct result of feedback from players who have grown their teams and are seeking more and more space,” Jevans said.

This issue has also been presented often as the players versus the grand slam tournaments, but Jevans noted pointedly that they had no direct contact with the actual players in recent months, with the meetings involving the former WTA chief executive Larry Scott, who is acting as the players’ representative.

“There’s been no dialogue with the players direct, but we have had dialogue with Larry Scott, who has been appointed by some of the players to represent them,” Jevans said. “We’ve had dialogue, and we’ve had email exchanges, and we met with them in Paris.”

Jevans also argued that the tournament calendar and the lengthening of the off-season are also issues that must be addressed through an official “channel of dialogue” with the players.

It remains to be seen how the players will respond to Wimbledon’s prize-money announcement. Their disappointment by Roland Garros’s significantly smaller increases led to frustration among the players. The player group was angered by the Roland Garros prize-money announcement, leading to their media boycott in Paris, and the player representatives were looking towards the Wimbledon prize-money announcement before deciding on their next step. The player representatives have been contacted for comment.

Beyond the prize-money announcement, the Championships this year will include video review technology on six show courts for the first time, with players allowed to review particular judgment calls by the chair umpire. Video review technology has already been used at the Australian Open, US Open and on the ATP and WTA tours.