Wimbledon fans are already buying tickets for a whopping £10,000

What cost of living crisis? Tennis-mad Wimbledon fans are already buying tickets for a whopping £10,000

  • Wimbledon men’s final are selling for a record £10,000 each 
  • Last year suffered from poor attendances with hundreds of empty seats

It’s  been a costly year by anyone’s standards as rising prices and soaring mortgage costs rip into our incomes. But the memo doesn’t seem to have reached SW19 yet.

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that tickets for the Wimbledon men’s final are selling for a record £10,000 each before the tournament even begins.

Super-rich tennis fans have snapped up debenture tickets for eye-watering fees for all stages of the 14-day sporting event, which begins tomorrow.

Last year’s tournament suffered from poor attendances, with hundreds of empty seats blamed on technical problems and post-pandemic anxiety.

But Wyldecrest Events, owned by billionaire businessman Alfie Best, which has been selling Wimbledon tickets to rich and corporate clients for 20 years, said it had never seen such fierce demand before the first match has even been played. 

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that tickets for the Wimbledon men’s final are selling for a record £10,000 each before the tournament even begins

Venus Williams of United States during a practice session ahead of The Championships – Wimbledon 2023 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

Last year’s tournament suffered from poor attendances, with hundreds of empty seats blamed on technical problems and post-pandemic anxiety. Empty seats were seen across Centre Court as starlet Emma Raducanu played on Day Three

‘We’ve never seen a Wimbledon like this,’ said director Mike Driscoll. ‘The men’s final is by far the hottest ticket in town.

‘Prices are going crazy – it’s quite spectacular. It’s the highest we’ve ever seen before the tournament even gets under way.

READ MORE: Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic train together ahead of Wimbledon – 10 years after pair met in the final which saw the Brit secure his first of two SW19 titles

‘The events industry is in the midst of a post-Covid boom. People want to go to sporting events more than ever, and they are prepared to pay big money.’

Wyldecrest is an official seller of debenture tickets, which are owned by wealthy investors and corporate clients, who pay £100,000 to be guaranteed seats for each day of the Grand Slam tournament for five years. 

The tickets are sold by the Lawn Tennis Association to raise money to pay for the upkeep and improvements at Wimbledon.

Debenture holders have made tens of thousands of pounds a year by selling the tickets on championship days – and some can even treble their money by reselling the entire debenture. 

Mr Driscoll said tickets for the final have previously soared above £10,000, but only later in the tournament, when it became likely that a British player such as Andy Murray might reach the final.

 Mr Driscoll said a new record was likely to be reached if Cameron Norrie or Dan Evans do well this year. Other debenture ticket sellers were last night offering men’s final tickets for more than £20,000. StubHub was offering two tickets for £23,497 each.

And on the website of Wimbledon Debenture Holders, a pair of tickets for the men’s final were being sold for £13,720.

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