Wimbledon Championships

Spencer Gore, the winner of the inaugural Wimbledon Championship

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a private club founded on 23 July 1868, originally as "The All England Croquet Club". Its first ground was at Nursery Road off Worple Road, Wimbledon.[10]

In 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier as an outdoor version of real tennis and originally given the name Sphairistikè, was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed "The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club" and signalled its change of name by instituting the first Lawn Tennis Championship. A new code of laws, replacing the code administered by the Marylebone Cricket Club, was drawn up for the event. Today's rules are similar except for details such as the height of the net and posts and the distance of the service line from the net.

The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemen's Singles was the only event held. 22 men paid a guinea to enter the tournament, which was to be held over five days. The rain delayed it four more days and thus, on 19 July 1877, the final was played. Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, defeated William Marshall 6–1, 6–2 and 6–4 in 48 minutes. Gore was presented with the silver challenge cup, valued at 25 guineas and donated by the sports magazine The Field, as well as a prize money of 12 guineas. About 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final.[11]

The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the principal court was in the middle with the others arranged around it, hence the title "Centre Court".[lower-alpha 4] The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, although no longer a true description of its location.[13] However, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly described. The opening of the new No. 1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description.

Ladies Championship, 1884. First prize, awarded to Maud Watson, was a silver flower-basket worth 20 guineas

By 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word "croquet" was dropped from the title. However, for sentimental reasons it was restored in 1899.

In 1884, the club added the Ladies' Singles competition and the Gentlemen's Doubles was transferred from the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club. Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles events were added in 1913. The first black player to compete at Wimbledon was Bertrand Milbourne Clark, an amateur from Jamaica, in 1924.[14]

Until 1922, the reigning champion had to play only in the final, against whomever had won through to challenge him/her. As with the other three Major or Grand Slam events, Wimbledon was contested by top-ranked amateur players; professional players were prohibited from participating. This changed with the advent of the open era in 1968. No British man won the singles event at Wimbledon between Fred Perry in 1936 and Andy Murray in 2013, while no British woman has won since Virginia Wade in 1977, although Annabel Croft and Laura Robson won the Girls' Championship in 1984 and 2008 respectively. The Championship was first televised in 1937.

Though formally called "The Championships, Wimbledon", depending on sources the event is also known as "The All England Lawn Tennis Championships", the "Wimbledon Championships" or simply "Wimbledon". From 1912 to 1924, the tournament was recognized by the International Lawn Tennis Federation as the "World Grass Court Championships".

In the period of 1915–1918, no tournament was organized due to World War I.

During World War II, the tournament was not held in the period 1940–1945. On 11 October 1940 one bomb hit a corner of the competitors’ stand of the Centre Court. The championships did go ahead in 1946 even though the damage meant that 1,200 seats were lost. The organisers were unable to repair the damaged section until 1947 and the Centre Court was fully restored and renovated for the 1949 edition.[15]

In 1946 and 1947 Wimbledon was held before the French Championships and was thus the second Grand Slam tennis event of the year.

Wimbledon is widely considered the world's premier tennis tournament and the priority of the club is to maintain its leadership. To that end a long-term plan was unveiled in 1993, intended to improve the quality of the event for spectators, players, officials and neighbours.[16] Stage one (1994–1997) of the plan was completed for the 1997 championships and involved building the new No. 1 Court in Aorangi Park, a broadcast centre, two extra grass courts and a tunnel under the hill linking Church Road and Somerset Road. Stage two (1997–2009) involved the removal of the old No. 1 Court complex to make way for the new Millennium Building, providing extensive facilities for players, press, officials and members, and the extension of the West Stand of the Centre Court with 728 extra seats. Stage three (2000–2011) was completed with the construction of an entrance building, club staff housing, museum, bank and ticket office.[17]

A new retractable roof was built in time for the 2009 championships, marking the first time that rain did not stop play for a lengthy time on Centre Court. The Club tested the new roof at an event called A Centre Court Celebration on Sunday, 17 May 2009, which featured exhibition matches involving Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters, and Tim Henman. The first Championship match to take place under the roof was the completion of the fourth round women's singles match between Dinara Safina and Amélie Mauresmo. The first match to be played in its entirety under the new roof took place between Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka on 29 June 2009. Murray was also involved in the match completed latest in the day at Wimbledon, which ended at 11:02 pm in a victory over Marcos Baghdatis at Centre Court in the third round of the 2012 Championships. The 2012 Gentlemen's Singles Final on 8 July 2012, between Roger Federer and Murray, was the first singles final to be partially played under the roof, which was activated during the third set.[lower-alpha 5]

A new 4,000-seat No. 2 Court was built on the site of the old No. 13 Court in time for the 2009 Championships.[18] A new 2,000-seat No. 3 Court was built on the site of the old No. 2 and No. 3 Courts.[19]

On 1 August 2011, the All England Club transferred all of its assets relating to The Championships to a separate though wholly owned subsidiary, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (Championships) Limited, also known as AELTC. Since that time, the club's activities have been formally conducted separately from those of The Championships.[20]

In 2012, the All England Club hosted the Summer Olympic Games and became the first Olympic grass court tournament since tennis was reintroduced as an Olympic sport and the first to be held at a Grand Slam venue in the Open era.[21]

In April 2013, Wimbledon unveiled its 'Master Plan' a vision in which to improve the championships over the next 10–15 years. This was in large part due to other Grand Slam tournaments such as the French Open and Australian Open also announcing expansion and re-development plans.[22][23] Aspects of the master plan included new player and media facilities, expansion of the No.1 court including a new retractable roof, new catering and hospitality areas, additional floor to the museum building, construction of an underground car park and new indoor courts and also a total reconfiguration of the site including the relocation of a number of practice, clay and championship courts.[24]

Part of the plan also includes acquiring the land of the adjacent Wimbledon Park Golf club for £65 million, so that the tournament qualifying matches can be played on site.[25]

On 19 October 2018, it was announced that a tie-break will be played if the score reaches 12–12 in the final set of any match; this will apply to all competitions including in qualifying, singles, and doubles.[26][27] In a related statement, it was announced that starting at the 2019 Championships, quad wheelchair competitions would become a permanent event.[28]

Centre Court at Wimbledon in May 2019.

As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the All England Club announced on 1 April 2020 that the entire grass-court season was to be cancelled as a public safety precaution, marking the first time a Wimbledon tournament would not be played since World War II.[29] Club officials considered playing the tournament behind closed doors, but this was ruled out in part because at least 5,000 people–including ballboys, officials, coaches, maintenance, and security–would have still needed to be on site to hold a functioning tournament. Former player and current All England Club board member Tim Henman told the Tennis Channel of the US that the board had carefully considered holding a closed-door Wimbledon. However, the sheer number of people who still would have needed to be on site led the board to realise "that wasn't going to be a workable option".[30] Prior to the start of the 2003 tournament, the club began paying an annual insurance premium of £1.61m ($2 million) to cover losses from cancellation of Wimbledon in the event of a worldwide pandemic as a result of the SARS outbreak; it would receive an insurance payment of £114 million ($141 million) for the 2020 cancellation on expected losses of around £250 million ($312 million).[31]

In April 2022, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the All England Club announced that Russian and Belarusian players would be prohibited from competing in the tournament. Unlike the ATP and WTA, participation as neutral athletes is also prohibited.[32] On 20 May 2022, the ATP, ITF, and WTA announced that they will not award ranking points for the tournament, as they considered the prohibition unilateral, and constituted discrimination against players based on nationality.[33]

The five main events, and the number of players (or teams, in the case of doubles) are:

• Gentlemen's Singles (128)
• Ladies' Singles (128)
• Gentlemen's Doubles (64)
• Ladies' Doubles (64)
• Mixed Doubles (48)

The four junior events and the number of players or teams are:

• Boys' Singles (64)
• Girls' Singles (64)
• Boys' Doubles (32)
• Girls' Doubles (32)

No mixed doubles event is held at this level

The seven invitational events and the number of pairs are:

• Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)[lower-alpha 6]
• Ladies' Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)
• Senior Gentlemen's Invitation Doubles (8 pairs Round Robin)[lower-alpha 7]
• Gentlemen's Wheelchair Singles[35]
• Ladies' Wheelchair Singles
• Gentlemen's Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)[36]
• Ladies' Wheelchair Doubles (4 pairs)[36]

Matches in the Gentlemen's Singles and Doubles are best-of-five sets; all other events are best-of-three sets. Up to and including the 2018 tournament, a tiebreak game is played if the score reaches 6–all in any set except the fifth (in a five-set match) or the third (in a three-set match), in which case a two-game lead must be reached. Since 2019, a final set tiebreak game is played if the score in the final set reaches 12–all.[26] In 2022 it was decided all matches would have a final set tie break once the match reached 6–6, with a champions tie break taking place meaning the winner needs to get to 10 points and win by two clear points. If the score is 9–9 play continues until one player wins by two points.

All events are single-elimination tournaments,[lower-alpha 8] except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, which are round-robin tournaments.

Up to 1921, the winners of the previous year's competition (except in the Ladies' Doubles and Mixed Doubles) were automatically granted byes into the final round (then known as the challenge round). This led to many winners retaining their titles in successive years, as they were able to rest while their opponent competed from the start of the competition. Since 1922, the prior year's champions were required to play all the rounds, like other tournament competitors.

An attempt was made to destroy the grounds in 1913, during the suffragette bombing and arson campaign. The suffragettes, as part of their campaign for women's votes before the First World War, had begun carrying out politically motivated arson and bombings across the country.[52] On the night of 27 February 1913, a suffragette woman "between the ages of 30–35" was arrested within the grounds, after being spotted by a groundsman climbing over a hedge at around midnight.[53] She was found to have with her some paraffin and wood shavings, for the purpose of setting fires in the grounds.[53] The woman refused to give her name or any information to the police and was later sentenced to two months' imprisonment.[53]

The qualifying matches, prior to the main draw, take place at the Bank of England Sports Ground, in Roehampton, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from the All England Club.[54]

In the championship games, ball boys and girls, known as BBGs, play a crucial role in the smooth running of the tournament, with a brief that a good BBG "should not be seen. They should blend into the background and get on with their jobs quietly."[56]

From 1947 ball boys were recruited from Goldings,[57] the only Barnardos school to provide them. Prior to this, from the 1920s onwards, the ball boys came from The Shaftesbury Children's Home.

Wimbledon ball girl at the net, 2007.

Since 1969, BBGs have been drawn from local schools. Traditionally, Wandsworth Boys School in Sutherland Grove, Southfields and Mayfield Girls School on West Hill in Wandsworth, both now defunct, were the schools of choice for selection of BBGs. This was possibly owing to their proximity to the club. Since 2008 they have been drawn from schools in the London boroughs of Merton, Sutton, Kingston, and Wandsworth, as well as from Surrey.[58] BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nine and ten.[59] They serve for one, or if re-selected, for up to five tournaments, up to year thirteen.[60]

Starting in 2005, BBGs work in teams of six, two at the net, four at the corners, and teams rotate one hour on court, one hour off, (two hours depending on the court) for the day's play.[59] Teams are not told which court they will be working on the day, to ensure the same standards across all courts. With the expansion of the number of courts, and lengthening the tennis day, as of 2008, the number of BBGs required is around 250. Starting on the second Wednesday, the number of BBGs is reduced due to the decrease in the number of matches per day, leaving around 80 on the final Sunday. Each BBG receives a certificate, a can of used balls, a group photograph and a programme when leaving. BBG service is paid, with a total of £160-£250 being paid to each ball boy or girl after the 13-day period, depending on the number of days served, around £17 per day. Every BBG keeps their kit. BBG places are split 50:50 between boys and girls, with girls having been included since 1977, appearing on centre court since 1985.[61]

Prospective BBGs are first nominated by their school headteacher, to be considered for selection. To be selected, a candidate must pass written tests on the rules of tennis, and pass fitness, mobility and other suitability tests, against initial preliminary instruction material. Successful candidates then commence a training phase, starting in February, in which the final BBGs are chosen through continual assessment. As of 2008, this training intake was 600. The training includes weekly sessions of physical, procedural and theoretical instruction, to ensure that the BBGs are fast, alert, self-confident and adaptable to situations. As of 2011, early training occurs at the Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis Club Covered Courts, to the side of the Grounds, and then moves to outside courts (8, 9, 10) the week before the Championships to ensure that BBGs gain a feel of the grass court.

Sébastien Grosjean takes a shot on Court 18 during the 2004 Championships.

Dark green and purple are the traditional Wimbledon colours. However, all tennis players participating in the tournament are required to wear all-white or at least almost all-white clothing, a long-time tradition at Wimbledon.[62][lower-alpha 9] Wearing white clothing with some colour accents is also acceptable, provided the colour scheme is not that of an identifiable commercial brand logo (the outfitter's brand logo being the sole exception). Controversy followed Martina Navratilova's wearing branding for "Kim" cigarettes in 1982. Green clothing was worn by the chair umpire, linesmen, ball boys and ball girls until the 2005 Championships; however, beginning with the 2006 Championships, officials, ball boys and ball girls were dressed in new navy blue- and cream-coloured uniforms from American designer Ralph Lauren.

By tradition, the "Men's" and "Women's" competitions are referred to as "Gentlemen's" and "Ladies'" competitions at Wimbledon. The junior competitions are referred to as the "Boys'" and "Girls'" competitions.

Prior to 2009, female players were referred to by the title "Miss" or "Mrs" on scoreboards. On the Wimbledon's Champions Board, married female players were referred to by their husband's name up until 2019. For the first time during the 2009 tournament, players were referred to on scoreboards by both their first and last names.[64]

The title "Mr" is not used for male players who are professionals on scoreboards but is retained for amateurs, although chair umpires refer to players as "Mr" when they use the replay challenge. The chair umpire will say "Mr <surname> is challenging the call..." and "Mr. <surname> has X challenges remaining." Up until 2018, the chair umpire said "Miss"/"Mrs" <surname> when announcing the score of the Ladies' matches. However, the chair umpire no longer calls "Miss"/"Mrs" <surname> when announcing the score, since 2019.[65] As of the 2022 edition of the tournament, the use of Mr, Miss and Mrs was eliminated entirely: players are now referred to by their names, as written on the scoreboard by the umpire at all points in a match.

If a match is being played with two competitors of the same surname (e.g. Venus and Serena Williams, Bob and Mike Bryan), the chair umpire will specify to whom they are referring by stating the player's first name and surname during announcements (e.g. "Game, Venus Williams", "Advantage, Mike Bryan").

The Royal Gallery at Centre Court, Wimbledon.

Previously, players bowed or curtsied to members of the royal family seated in the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court. However, in 2003, All England Club president Prince Edward, Duke of Kent decided to discontinue the tradition. Now, players are required to bow or curtsy only if the Prince of Wales or the King is present,[66] as was in practice during the 2010 Championships when Elizabeth II was in attendance at Wimbledon on 24 June.[67] On 27 June 2012, Roger Federer said in his post-match interview that he and his opponent had been asked to bow towards the Royal Box as Prince Charles and his wife were present, saying that it was not a problem for him.[68]

A Royal Marines Commando as a services steward in 2005.

Prior to the Second World War, members of the Brigade of Guards and retired members of the Royal Artillery performed the role of stewards. In 1946 the AELTC offered employment to wartime servicemen returning to civilian life during their demobilisation leave. Initially, this scheme extended only to the Royal Navy, followed by the British Army in 1947 and the Royal Air Force in 1949. In 1965 London Fire Brigade members joined the ranks of stewards.[69] The service stewards, wearing uniform, are present in Centre Court and No.'s 1, 2, 3, 12 and 18 courts.[70] In 2015, 595 Service and London Fire Brigade stewards attended.[71] Only enlisted members of the Armed Forces may apply for the role, which must be taken as leave, and half of each year's recruits must have stewarded at Wimbledon before. The AELTC pays a subsistence allowance to servicemen and women working as stewards to defray their accommodation costs for the period of the Championships. The Service Stewards are not to be confused with the 185 Honorary Stewards.

Wimbledon operates a ticket resale system where returned Show Court tickets can be purchased.[72] All proceeds go to charity.[73]

Debenture of the All England Lawn Tennis Ground Ltd., issued 20. August 1930.

The majority of centre and show court tickets sold to the general public have since 1924 been made available by a public ballot that the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club holds at the start of the year.[74] The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer.[75] The most recent figures from 2011 suggested there were four applicants to every ballot ticket. Applications must be posted to arrive at the AELTC by the last day of December in the year prior to the tournament. Seats and days are allocated randomly and ballot tickets are not transferable.

The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure. Fans who invest thus in the club receive a pair of tickets for every day of the Wimbledon Championships for the five years the investment lasts.[76] Only debenture holders are permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties and demand for debentures has increased in recent years, to such an extent that they are even traded on the London Stock Exchange.

Wimbledon and the French Open are the only Grand Slam tournaments where fans without tickets for play can queue up and still get seats on the three show courts on the day of the match.[77] Sequentially numbered queue cards were introduced in 2003. From 2008, there is a single queue, allotted about 500 seats for each court. When they join the queue, fans are handed queue cards. Anyone who then wishes to leave the queue temporarily, even if in possession of a queue card, must agree their position with the others nearby in the queue and/or a steward.

To get access to the show courts, fans normally have to queue overnight.[78] This is done by fans from all over the world and, although considered vagrancy, is part of the Wimbledon experience in itself. The All-England Club allows overnight queuing and provides toilet and water facilities for campers. Early in the morning when the line moves towards the Grounds, stewards walk along the line and hand out wristbands that are colour-coded to the specific court. The wrist band (and payment) is exchanged at the ticket office for the ticket when the grounds open. General admission to the grounds gives access to the outer courts and is possible without queuing overnight. Tickets returned by people leaving early go on sale at 2:30 pm and the money goes to charity. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.

At 2.40pm on Day Seven (Monday 28 June) of the 2010 Championships, the one-millionth numbered Wimbledon queue card was handed out to Rose Stanley from South Africa.[79][80]

Unlike other tournaments, advertising from major brands is minimal and low key, from suppliers such as IBM, Rolex and Slazenger.[81][82] Wimbledon is notable for the longest running sponsorship in sports history due to its association with Slazenger who have supplied all tennis balls for the tournament since 1902.[83] Between 1935 and 2021, Wimbledon had a sponsorship deal with Robinsons fruit squash – one of the longest sponsorships in sport.[84]

Strawberries and cream are traditionally eaten by spectators at Wimbledon and have become culturally synonymous with the tournament. In 2017, fans consumed 34,000 kg (33 imperial tons) of British strawberries and 10,000 litres (2,200 imperial gallons) of cream.

Until 2011 when its contract ended,[85] Radio Wimbledon could be heard within a five-mile radius on 87.7 FM, and also online. It operated under a Restricted Service Licence. Presenters included Sam Lloyd and Ali Barton. Typically they worked alternate four-hour shifts until the end of the last match of the day. Reporters and commentators included Gigi Salmon, Nick Lestor, Rupert Bell, Nigel Bidmead, Guy Swindells, Lucie Ahl, Nadine Towell and Helen Whitaker. Often they reported from the "Crow's Nest", an elevated building housing the Court 3 and 4 scoreboards which affords views of most of the outside courts. Regular guests included Sue Mappin. In later years Radio Wimbledon acquired a second low-power FM frequency (within the grounds only) of 96.3 FM for uninterrupted Centre Court commentary, and, from 2006, a third for coverage from No. 1 Court on 97.8 FM. Hourly news bulletins and travel (using RDS) were also broadcast.

Radio Wimbledon's theme tune is called "Purple and Green" and has been used since 1996 when it was composed by a British Composer called Tony Cox.

Beginning with the 2018 tournament, an in-house operation known as Wimbledon Broadcasting Services (WBS) has served as the official host broadcaster of the tournament, replacing BBC Sport.[86]

People watching the Championships' broadcast in Canary Wharf.

Since 1937 the BBC has broadcast the tournament on television in the United Kingdom.[87][lower-alpha 10] Between 1956 and 1968 The Championships were also covered by the ITV Network, but since 1969 the BBC has had a monopoly. The matches covered are primarily split between its two main terrestrial channels, BBC One and BBC Two, and their Red Button service. This can result in live matches being moved across all 3 channels. The BBC holds the broadcast rights for Wimbledon until 2027.[89] During the days of British Satellite Broadcasting, its sports channel carried extra coverage of Wimbledon for subscribers. One of the most notable British commentators was Dan Maskell, who was known as the BBC's "voice of tennis" until his retirement in 1991. John Barrett succeeded him in that role until he retired in 2006. Current commentators working for the BBC at Wimbledon include British ex-players Andrew Castle, John Lloyd, Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Samantha Smith and Mark Petchey; tennis legends such as John McEnroe, Tracy Austin, Boris Becker and Lindsay Davenport; and general sports commentators including David Mercer, Barry Davies, Andrew Cotter and Nick Mullins. The coverage is presented by Sue Barker (live) and Claire Balding (highlights). Previous BBC presenters include Des Lynam, David Vine, John Inverdale and Harry Carpenter.

The Wimbledon Finals are obliged to be shown live and in full on terrestrial television (BBC Television Service, ITV, Channel 4, or Channel 5) by government mandate. Highlights of the rest of the tournament must be provided by terrestrial stations; live coverage (excepting the finals) may be sought by satellite or cable TV.[90]

The BBC was forced to apologise after many viewers complained about "over-talking" by its commentary team during the TV coverage of the event in 2011. It said in a statement that views on commentary were subjective but that they "do appreciate that over-talking can irritate our audience". The BBC added that it hoped it had achieved "the right balance" across its coverage and was "of course sorry if on occasion you have not been satisfied". Tim Henman and John McEnroe were among the ex-players commentating.[91]

Wimbledon was also involved in a piece of television history, when on 1 July 1967 the first official colour television broadcast took place in the UK. Four hours live coverage of the 1967 Championships was shown on BBC Two, which was the first television channel in Europe to regularly broadcast in colour. Footage of that historic match no longer survives, however, the Gentlemen's Final of that year is still held in the BBC archives because it was the first Gentlemen's Final transmitted in colour. The tennis balls used were traditionally white, but were switched to yellow in 1986 to make them stand out for colour television.[92] Since 2007, Wimbledon matches have been transmitted in high-definition, originally on the BBC's free-to-air channel BBC HD, with continual live coverage during the tournament of Centre Court and Court No. 1 as well as an evening highlights show Today at Wimbledon. Coverage is now shown on BBC One and Two's HD feeds. Beginning 2018, all centre court matches are televised in 4K ultra-high-definition.[93]

The BBC's opening theme music for Wimbledon was composed by Keith Mansfield and is titled "Light and Tuneful". A piece titled "A Sporting Occasion" is the traditional closing theme. The finally notes of this theme are regularly used to end BBC One and BBC Two Wimbledon transmissions. For the end of broadcast at the conclusion of the tournament a montage set to popular music is traditionally used instead. Mansfield also composed the piece "World Champion", used by NBC during intervals (change-overs, set breaks, etc.) and at the close of broadcasts throughout the tournament.

In Ireland, RTÉ broadcast the tournament during the 1980s and 1990s on their second channel RTÉ Two, they also provided highlights of the games in the evening. The commentary provided was given by Matt Doyle a former Irish-American professional tennis player and Jim Sherwin a former RTÉ newsreader. Caroline Murphy was the presenter of the programme. RTÉ made the decision in 1998 to discontinue broadcasting the tournament due to falling viewing figures and the large number of viewers watching on the BBC.[94] From 2005 until 2014 TG4 Ireland's Irish-language broadcaster provided coverage of the tournament. Live coverage was provided in the Irish language while they broadcast highlights in English at night.[95]

In 2015 Wimbledon moved to pay TV broadcaster Setanta Sports under a 3-year agreement.[96] Its successor, Eir Sport, currently hosts broadcasting rights in Ireland.

In the United States, ABC began showing taped highlights of the Wimbledon Gentlemen's Singles Final in the 1960s on its Wide World of Sports series. NBC began a 43-year run of covering Wimbledon in 1969, with same-day taped (and often edited) coverage of the Gentlemen's Singles Final. In 1979, the network began carrying the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles Finals live. For the next few decades, Americans made a tradition of NBC's "Breakfast at Wimbledon"[97] specials at weekends. Live coverage started early in the morning (the US being a minimum of 5 hours behind the UK) and continued well into the afternoon, interspersed with commentary and interviews from Bud Collins, whose tennis acumen and famous patterned trousers were well known to tennis fans in the US. Collins was sacked by NBC in 2007, but was promptly hired by ESPN, the cable home for The Championships in the States. For many years NBC's primary Wimbledon host was veteran broadcaster Dick Enberg.

From 1975 to 1999, premium channel HBO carried weekday coverage of Wimbledon. Hosts included Jim Lampley, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, John Lloyd and Barry MacKay among others.[98] ESPN took over as the cable-television partner in 2003.[99]

The AELTC grew frustrated with NBC's policy of waiting to begin its quarterfinal and semifinal coverage until after the conclusion of Today at 10 a.m. local, as well as broadcasting live only to the Eastern Time Zone and using tape-delay in all others. NBC also held over high-profile matches for delayed broadcast in its window, regardless of any ongoing matches. In one notorious incident in 2009, ESPN2's coverage of the Tommy Haas–Novak Djokovic quarterfinal was forced off the air nationwide when it ran past 10 a.m. Eastern, after which NBC showed the conclusion of the match on tape only after presenting the previous Ivo Karlović–Roger Federer quarterfinal in full.[100] Beginning with the 2012 tournament, coverage moved to ESPN and ESPN2, marking the second major tennis championship (after the Australian Open) where live coverage is exclusively on pay television, while ESPN Deportes provide the coverage in Spanish. The finals are also broadcast tape-delayed on ABC.[101] On 9 July 2021, ESPN and AELTC reached an agreement to extend the coverage for 12 years, beginning from 2024 until 2035. This agreement is including live coverage on ABC of play on the middle weekend which begins in 2022, after AELTC announces will no longer schedule a rest day on its middle Sunday.[102]

Taped coverage using the world feed is aired in primetime and overnights on Tennis Channel and is branded Wimbledon Primetime.

In Canada, coverage of Wimbledon is exclusively carried by TSN and RDS, which are co-owned by Bell Media and ESPN. Prior to 2012, CBC Television and SRC were the primary broadcaster of Wimbledon for Canada, and its live coverage of the tournament predated "Breakfast at Wimbledon" by over a decade, Canada being at least four hours from its fellow Commonwealth realm.

In Mexico, the Televisa family of networks has aired Wimbledon since the early 1960s. Presently, most weekend matches are broadcast through Canal 5 with the weekday matches broadcast on the Televisa Deportes Network. As Mexico is six hours behind the U.K., some Canal 5 affiliates air the weekend matches as the first program of the day after sign-on. Although Mexico had begun broadcasting in colour in 1962, Wimbledon continued to air in black and white in Mexico until colour television came to the United Kingdom in 1967.

In most of the remainder of Latin America, Wimbledon airs on ESPN, as do the other Grand Slam tournaments. In Brazil, SporTV has exclusive rights to the broadcast.

In several European countries, Wimbledon is shown live on Eurosport 1, Eurosport 2 and the Eurosport Player. Although there are some exceptions, as in Denmark, where the Danish TV2 holds the right to show matches until 2022 and in Italy where Sky Sport and SuperTennis holds the rights to show live matches until 2022. In the Netherlands Center Court is shown live on Eurosport 1 and all other courts are shown live on the Eurosport Player. But Court One is covered live on Ziggo Sport/Ziggo Sport Select. Wimbledon has been exclusively broadcast on Sky Sport in Germany since 2007.[103] In December 2018, Sky extended its contract for Austria, Germany and Switzerland until 2022.[104]

In Australia, the free-to-air Nine Network covered Wimbledon for almost 40 years but decided to drop their broadcast following the 2010 tournament, citing declining ratings and desire to use money saved to bid on other sports coverage. In April 2011, it was announced that the Seven Network, the then-host broadcaster of the Australian Open, along with its sister channel 7Two would broadcast the event from 2011. Pay television network Fox Sports Australia also covered the event. Free-to-air coverage returned to Nine Network in 2021. In India and its Subcontinental region, it is broadcast on Star Sports. In Pakistan it is broadcast on PTV Sports.

Coverage is free-to-air in New Zealand through TVNZ One, beginning each night at 11 pm (midday in London). In 2017 their new channel, TVNZ Duke (also free-to-air), carried an alternative to the main feed, including (for example) matches on outside courts involving New Zealand players.

Fox Sports Asia held broadcasting rights across Southeast Asia from 1992 until network's shutdown in 2021. SPOTV currently holds broadcasting rights across Southeast Asia (except Vietnam). Disney+ Hotstar currently holds broadcasting rights in Vietnam before the streaming service launched in early 2023.

Most matches are also available for viewing through internet betting websites and other live streaming services, as television cameras are set up to provide continuous coverage on nearly all the courts.

The Ladies' (top) and Gentlemen's singles trophies

The Gentlemen's Singles champion is presented with a silver gilt cup 18.5 inches (about 47 cm) in height and 7.5 inches (about 19 cm) in diameter. The trophy has been awarded since 1887 and bears the inscription: "All England Lawn Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World". The actual trophy remains the property of the All England Club in their museum, so the champion receives a three-quarter size replica of the Cup bearing the names of all past Champions (height 13.5 inches, 34 cm).[105]

The Ladies' Singles champion is presented with a sterling silver salver commonly known as the "Venus Rosewater Dish", or simply the "Rosewater Dish". The salver, which is 18.75 inches (about 48 cm) in diameter, is decorated with figures from mythology. The actual dish remains the property of the All England Club in their museum, so the champion receives a miniature replica bearing the names of all past Champions. From 1949 to 2006 the replica was 8 inches in diameter, and since 2007 it has been a three-quarter size replica with a diameter of 13.5 inches.[105]

The winner of the Gentlemen's Doubles, Ladies' Doubles, and Mixed Doubles events receive silver cups. A trophy is awarded to each player in the Doubles pair, unlike the other Grand Slam tournaments where the winning Doubles duo shares a single trophy. The Gentlemen's Doubles silver challenge cup was originally from the Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club and donated to the All England Club in 1884. The Ladies' Doubles Trophy, a silver cup and cover known as The Duchess of Kent Challenge Cup, was presented to the All England Club in 1949 by The Duchess of Kent. The Mixed Doubles Trophy is a silver challenge cup and cover presented to the All England Club by the family of two-time Wimbledon doubles winner S.H. Smith.[105][106]

Todd Woodbridge holding the Gentlemen's doubles silver challenge cup in 2004

The runner-up in each event receives an inscribed silver plate. The trophies are usually presented by the President of the All England Club, The Duke of Kent.[105]

Prize money was first awarded in 1968, the year that professional players were allowed to compete in the Championships for the first time. Total prize money was £26,150; the winner of the men's title earned £2,000 while the women's singles champion received £750.[107][108] In money as of 2018, £2,000 as of 1968 equals £34,600 however.[109] In 2007, Wimbledon[110][111] and French Open[112] became the last grand slam tournaments to award unequal prize money to women and men.

In 2009, a total of £12,500,000 in prize money was awarded with the singles champions receiving £850,000 each, an increase of 13.3 percent on 2008.[113] In 2010 total prize money increased to £13,725,000, and the singles champions received £1,000,000 each. A further increase of 6.4% in 2011 resulted in a total prize money amount of £14,600,000. Both male and female singles champions prize money increased to £1,100,000, a rise of 10%.[114] The 2012 Championships offered total prize money of £16,060,000, an increase of 10.0% from 2011. The bulk of the increases were given to players losing in earlier rounds.[115] This move was in response to the growing angst among lower-ranked players concerning the inadequacy of their pay. Sergiy Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Player Council and who was at the time ranked 68th, was among the most vocal in the push for higher pay for players who bow out in the earlier rounds. In an interview Stakhovsky intimated that it is not uncommon for lower-ranked players to be in the negative, for certain tour events, if their results were not stellar.[116] This issue gained the attention of the men's "Big Four"—Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Rafael Nadal—as well as the Championships.

In 2013 total prize money was further increased by about 40% from 2012 to £22,560,000. The losers in the earlier singles rounds of the tournament saw a highest 62% increase in their pay while the total prize money of the doubles increased by 22%. The prize money for participants of the qualifying matches saw an increase of 41%. Sergiy Stakhovsky, a member of the ATP Player Council, was the loudest voice for this increase.[117] The 2015 prize money was £1,880,000 each for the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles winners, £340,000 each pair for the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Doubles winners, and £100,000 per pair for the Mixed Doubles winners. The total prize money awarded is £26,750,000 up 7% from the £25,000,000 in 2014.[118] The 2016 Wimbledon Championships saw prize money for the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles winners reach £2,000,000 for the first time. The winning pair of the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Doubles received £350,000, a £10,000 increase from 2015. £100,000 was awarded to the winning pair of the Mixed Doubles competition.

In 2016, the total prize money of £28,100,000 was a 5% increase on the 2015 prize money.

In 2017, the total prize money rose by 12.5% to £31,600,000, with the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Singles Champions each receiving £2.2 million, a 10% increase from £2.0 million in 2016. In 2019 prize money was increased to £38,000,000.[119]

In 2022, the tournament was played with a full capacity crowd for the first time since 2019, and the total prize money increased by 15.23% to a record £40,350,000. The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Singles Champions each received £2,000,000, an increase of 17.65% from 2021.[120]

Doubles prize money is per team.

• Gentlemen's singles
• Ladies' singles
• Gentlemen's doubles
• Ladies' doubles
• Mixed doubles
• All champions