Wimbledon continues to invest in players & The Championships

London, UK: The All England Club, Wimbledon, today unveiled details for The Championships 2014.  

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Courts
This year The Championships will be played on 17 courts.  Courts 14 and 15 will not be in play having been excavated as part of the Master Plan to allow the creation of additional space, which will provide accommodation for Ball Boys and Ball Girls, photographers and for an expanded 24-hour media restaurant from 2015.   

No.3 Court will have an extra 198 unreserved seats offering improved value to spectators with Grounds Passes.  

Enhanced arrival experience
The arrival experience and surrounding streets for both spectators and the local community have again been enhanced.  This will include Wimbledon-themed arrival hubs at Wimbledon train station and Southfields tube station, as well as Championships’ banners and hanging baskets along the walking routes from Southfields station and throughout Wimbledon town centre.

New wrought iron railings have been installed along the Church Road boundary of Wimbledon Park Golf Club. These have dramatically improved the views of the golf course for our neighbours and will offer the same for visitors coming from Southfields.  The remainder of the project will be completed in 2015.

Following consultation with visitors in 2013 and in support of our aim of reducing traffic congestion along Wimbledon Park Road to create a more pleasant arrival experience at The Championships, the shuttle bus service from Southfields has been suspended on a trial basis.  The move replicates the walking experience at the London Olympics which proved popular. A disability shuttle will operate for those visitors who are eligible to use the service.

New Wimbledon mobile app
Following the successful redesign of Wimbledon.com in 2012 and the launch of the award-nominated iPad app in 2013, Wimbledon fans will be treated to a new Wimbledon iPhone and Android app in 2014 founded on a unique personalisation experience that allows users easy access to the content of greatest interest to them.

Following the lead of the website and iPad app, these visually engaging apps also have Wimbledon imagery at their heart, coupled with a clean and simple user experience that makes the most of each platform. The apps provide comprehensive mobile coverage of The Championships through real-time live scores and results, news, live blog, photos, live video and radio (Live @ Wimbledon), video highlights and much more, making them the ultimate Wimbledon companion.

Ticket Resale 60^th anniversary
The Ticket Resale scheme celebrates its 60^th anniversary this year. Since 1954, the scheme has provided the opportunity for show court tickets that are no longer needed to be recycled to other users within the Grounds thereby ensuring that the seats have a greater chance of being occupied for longer. From this source over £1m has been donated to charity in the last 10 years and in 2014 the proceeds will be donated via the Wimbledon Foundation to local and national charities.

Chairman’s Special Guests

• Maria Bueno - 50 years since winning the Ladies’ Singles in 1964 for the third time.
• Roy Emerson - 50 years since winning the Gentlemen’s Singles in 1964.
• Ken Rosewall - recognising his many achievements at The Championships in the post war years.

Other details include:

• Ground capacity remains unchanged at a maximum of 38,500.
• Start times remain unchanged: 11.30am on outside courts, 1.00pm on Centre and No.1 Courts apart from the two Singles’ finals at 2.00pm.
• The Queue starts at 8:00am on Sunday 22 June.
• Ground entry security procedures will be at an appropriately high level. 
• Only one bag per ticket holder - no larger than 16x12x12ins (40x30x30cm). 
• No hard-sided hampers, cool-boxes, briefcases or flasks allowed into the Grounds.
• No Left Luggage facilities inside the Grounds. 

PRIZE MONEY

Players at The Championships 2014 will receive a total of £25m, an increase of £2.4m, or 10.8%, over 2013.  

At the heart of the increase is a wish by the Club to continue to build on the work of the last two years targeting the increases to the side of the draw which it was felt needed it most – those players who lose in the early rounds or in qualifying.  

For the vast majority (88%) of singles players who lose in the first three rounds of The Championships, there is an increase of over 12.5% in the prize money each will receive this year, thereby increasing the prize money for these players by over 100% over a three-year period.

Similarly, there is a 12.5% increase in prize money for qualifying bringing the three-year increase for this group to 93%.

At the same time, the Club appreciates the contribution of the other singles players - the last 16 - whose box office appeal plays such an important part in the success of The Championships.  For this group of players there is an average increase this year of at least 10% with the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Singles champions each receiving £1.76m, a 10% (£160,000) increase from £1.6m.

Doubles continues to play an important role at The Championships and there is an 8.7% increase in the Gentlemen’s and Ladies’ Doubles and a 6.1% increase for the Mixed Doubles.

Full details of 2014 prize money (PDF)

COMMERCIAL

The Club’s commercial strategy continues to deliver long-term relationships with prestigious international organisations. New broadcast deals have been secured in Europe and Asia and an enhanced agreement has been signed with Stella Artois as Official Beer of The Championships.   

Broadcast
Wimbledon continues to be covered by the majority of the world’s major broadcasters across 200 territories.  Recent agreements include:

• beIN SPORT - new five-year deal in France until 2018.
• Sky Deutschland - five-year extension to 2018.
• Sky Italia - five-year extension to 2018.
• NHK - five-year extension from 2015 making NHK, at over 40 years,  Wimbledon’s longest international broadcast partner.
  • Fox Sports International (Asia) - new six-year deal beginning in 2015.
  • Star Sports India - new five-year deal beginning 2015. 

Wimbledon Shop Online
The Club is delighted to announce the relaunch of the Wimbledon Online Shop to provide a visually stunning experience for the Wimbledon shopper incorporating the best of ecommerce technology.   The redesigned site   www.wimbledon.com/shop will go live this week.

Wimbledon Poster 2014
The 2014 poster has been produced in conjunction with a competition organised by ESPN. See www.wimbledon.com/poster for details of the winning poster.

WIMBLEDON MASTER PLAN

The Club has continued its work on the Wimbledon Master Plan. The tunnel under Somerset Road has been completed as has the creation of new space beneath Courts 14 and 15.  These courts have been re-laid for use in 2015.  Watch a time-lapse of the construction below.

Design work is progressing on the proposed revisions to No.1 Court. Proposals include the new fixed and retractable roof, an extra 900 seats, additional permanent hospitality space (which will incorporate some of the current temporary hospitality), and a public plaza in place of Court 19.  The proposals are subject to planning approval for which an application is expected to be submitted later this year.  The scheduled target completion date remains 2019.  See  www.wimbledon.com/masterplan.

THREE-WEEK GAP

In 2015 the dates of The Championships will move back by one week (29 June-12 July 2015) to create a three-week gap between the French Open and Wimbledon.  Work has continued with the ATP, WTA and LTA on a re-structured calendar and the Club is delighted to welcome Stuttgart and Nottingham to the pre-Wimbledon grass court circuit, as well as the elevation in status of the events at Queen’s, Halle and Edgbaston.    

CENTRE COURT DEBENTURE ISSUE, 2016 - 2020

The prospectus for the Centre Court Debenture issue 2016-2020 was published on 25 April.  Up to 2,500 Debentures are being offered at a price of £50,000 (inc VAT) per Debenture.  Applications close on 6 June 2014 and the issue is expected to raise around £100m, which will be invested in the improvements to the Grounds and facilities under the Wimbledon Master Plan.

DIARY DATES (subject to change)

• Wild cards announced:  from Monday 9 June.
• Qualifying event:  Monday 16 - Thursday 19 June, Bank of England Sports Club.
• Seedings announced:  Wednesday 18 June, at 10.00am.
• The draw:  Friday 20 June, 10.00am in the Main Interview Room.
• ATP/WTA Player Interviews:  Saturday 21 June, players and timings tbc.
• Champions’ interviews:  Sunday 22 June, Marion Bartoli (11.30am), Andy Murray (12 noon).
• The Championships 2014: Monday 23 June - Sunday 6 July. 

WIMBLEDON: THE OFFICIAL HISTORY

The Club is pleased to announce that a fourth edition of Wimbledon: The Official History by John Barrett, will be published just before this year’s Championships. RRP £30.  This authoritative volume now extends to 584 pages and includes a new, beautifully illustrated chapter, which covers the dramatic events surrounding Andy Murray’s historic win in 2013. 

Watch the 2014 Spring Press Conference as it happened...(from the 27-minute mark)