All England Tennis Club told to commercialise Wimbledon more

The private club that hosts the annual tennis tournament at Wimbledon are being told that they must allow the tournament to be commercialized to a greater extent than it is now to increase the amount of money generated by the tournament.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club allows agreements with 14 official suppliers, and the financial director of the club believes that the present arrangement is the most beneficial to the club.

These 14 official sponsors generate approximately £10 million to £12 million for the club, well under the approximately $50 million (€40.8 million) generated by sponsorships at the US Open, another grand slam tournament.

The total amount generated by the Wimbledon tournament has fallen from a peak of £33 million (€49.2 million) in 1998 to less than £28 million.

The club puts the blame for the decline on the cost of insurance and on lower fees from broadcast rights to the tournament. Critics of the club believe that it should be more forward in pursuing sponsorships.

The chief executive of Sport England believes that Wimbledon should be promoted more vigorously all year long and on a worldwide basis.

Another analyst said that the club needs to increase the amount of money generated by merchandising and sponsorships and depend less on the funds generated by broadcast rights.

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