Announcements for The Championships 2012

Revised Start Times

• Revised start times will be introduced on Courts 2-19 inclusive. Play will start at 11.30am daily for main draw matches to allow the players a better chance of completing their matches in the best possible playing conditions and to ensure matches have a greater chance of being finished on the original day of the schedule. Gates open at 10.30am as usual.

Ground Capacity

• 38,500 as per 2011.

Drought Measures

• Wimbledon is committed to conserving water supplies and minimising usage.
•  Working with Thames Water to ensure that the grass courts can still be prepared and maintained to the usual high standards expected of The Championships and, in 2012, the Olympic tennis event. Exemption for court watering granted as a sporting event of national and international significance.
• Implementing ways of reducing our non-essential water consumption – eg: revised planting schemes with drought tolerant plants, reduction in hanging baskets outside the grounds.

New digital services

• Live @ Wimbledon - New, enhanced live radio and broadcast service allowing fans to access live tennis from The Championships as part of a content-rich and engaging audio-visual experience (see separate sheet). On air from 9am on Monday 25 June.
• www.wimbledon.com: Completely re-designed year-round website offering an advanced platform to showcase Live @ Wimbledon, as well as providing a superior experience with more content, better imagery and easier to use. Scheduled to go live from 31 May.

The Queue and General Security

• The Queue does not start until 8am on Sunday 24 June.
•  £5 fee (proceeds donated to charity) to be levied on storage of camping equipment.
• Ground entry security procedures will be at an appropriately high level.
• On-day sales queue in Wimbledon Park leading to off-site search/scanning operation.
•  All ticket holders searched on entry.
• Only one bag per ticket holder allowed. No larger than 16x12x12ins (40x30x30cm).
• No hard-sided hampers, cool-boxes or brief cases allowed into the grounds.
• No Left Luggage facilities inside the grounds (facilities located outside the grounds on the Golf Course, Car Park 1 and St Mary’s Church car park).

Chairman’s Special Guests

• Frank Sedgman – 60 years since Singles, Doubles and Mixed titles in 1952.
• Rod Laver – 50 years since first Grand Slam in 1962.
• Andre Agassi – 20 years since Gentlemen’s Singles Champion 1992.
• Stefanie Graf – 20 years since Ladies Singles Champion 1992.

Commercial

• The Club’s commercial strategy continues to deliver long-term relationships with prestigious international organisations with one new exclusive major broadcast partner, an extension to our host broadcaster agreement and four extensions to existing commercial partner agreements signed this year.

Broadcast

• Wimbledon continues to be covered by the majority of the world’s major broadcasters across close to 200 territories.
• ESPN - 12-year agreement beginning 2012 to offer exclusive US television rights to live action from The Championships, including both the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals. Comprehensive coverage, including 120 hours of live action on ESPN 1, 2, and 3, across a variety of platforms.
• BBC - contract as the host broadcaster and UK rights holder has been extended by a further three years from 2015 to 2017 inclusive.
• 3D - Sony’s 3D coverage extended to five days from the second Wednesday onwards.

Commercial Partners

• Rolex - new 10-year extension to existing agreement as Official Timekeeper.
• Evian - new five-year extension as Official Water.
• Keith Prowse and Sportsworld – new five-year agreements as hospitality partners.

Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

• Our partnership with VisitBritain has been renewed to the end of 2013.
• Joint promotional benefits to the Museum and the Tour via Museum TV ads shown in the USA, Far East, South America and Australia has contributed to a record 78,000 visitors during 2011 and a 20% increase in the first three months of 2012.

Wimbledon Poster 2012

• Wish to give the poster a fresh, more contemporary look.
• Involvement of local community in the design with competition organised for students at Kingston University’s Faculty of Art. Poster formed from 12 winning entries.

Wimbledon 2020

• Over the past 15 years, the Club’s previous Long Term Plan (ended 2011) has delivered dramatically improved facilities for all users including the completely refurbished Centre Court with retractable roof, new No.1, No.2 and No.3 Courts, the Millennium Building and new Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum.
• In November 2011, the Club appointed Grimshaw, a firm of architects and planners, to help it develop a new master-plan with the aim of making further improvements to the grounds over the next 10-15 years. Master-plan expected to be finalised by end 2012.

London 2012 Olympics

• Continuing to work with LOCOG to ensure that the Olympic tennis at Wimbledon is a success.
• LOCOG are responsible for organising and running the event.
• Responsibility for preparation of the grass courts remains with AELTC.
• Having conducted two years of successful trials using pre-germinated seed, the Club is confident of returning the courts as close as possible to the same condition before The Championships and that the courts will continue to play to the usual high standards.

Pre-Championships’ Diary Dates

• Wild cards announced - from Monday 11 June.
• Qualifying event: Monday 18-Thursday 21 June, Bank of England Sports Club.
• Seedings announced - Wednesday 20 June, around noon.
• Draw - Friday 22 June, from 10am. Main Interview Room.
• Defending Champions’ interviews - Sunday 24 June, 11.30am and noon.