It’s not easy to get a ticket to The All England Tennis Championships. We give you the lowdown on how to get tickets for Wimbledon.
From ballots to the queue in Wimbledon Park to hospitality and debentures, there are several ways to obtain your ticket in 2017.
1. The AELTC Public Ballot
The official All England Lawn Tennis Club operates an annual draw for Wimbledon play on Centre Court, Court Numbers 1, 2 and 3.
UK Residents Ballot
The public ballot began in 1924 and is always hugely oversubscribed. The chances of receiving tickets are believed to be approximately 1 in 10.
This opens in mid September and is done online. People need to create a mywimbledon account and then enter the ballot.
It’s not possible to request specific dates or courts.
Successful applicants are randomly chosen by computer and will be notified in February with the court and date of play which has been allocated. If acceptable payment is made by credit/debit card online.
Visitors will not know the order of play until it is announced the evening before each day’s play.
Centre court tickets range from £20 – £255, Court 1 from £45 – £170, Court 2 from £43 – £90 and Court 3 from £46 – £60.
International (Non-UK) Residents Ballot
For those residents outside the UK there is a separate ballot online which runs from November to December 15.
2. LTA Ballot and Club Tickets
Those in the UK can join the Lawn Tennis Association for £30. The LTA ballot offers a draw for affiliated and non-affiliated British tennis members, coaches and administrators.
Many LTA-affiliated tennis clubs across the UK receive a small allocation of tickets for Wimbledon and will conduct their own ballot or distribution to players. Joining your local club may give you the opportunity to apply for a ballot however understandably long-term members may be given priority.
3. Join ‘The Queue’
‘The Queue’ for Wimbledon tickets is at Wimbledon Park (Church Road side).
It is one of the great traditions of The Championships and gets bigger every year.
Payment is by card only.
The Show Courts Ticket Queue
500 tickets are available daily for each court – Centre court (from £70), Court one (from £45) and Court 2 (from £43) however not for last 4 days as these are all pre-sold.
For a chance of entry to the show courts you will need to camp and arrive in the queue by late afternoon/early evening the day before play.
Everyone in the queue receives a non-transferable number denoting your position.
Make sure you’ve stocked up on provisions as there is very little on sale except from standard burger vans. No tents bigger than 2 man size, BBQs or gazebos are permitted and there is a noise curfew imposed from 10pm.
Campers are woken at 0600 and from 0730 those lucky to be at the top of the queue will get wrist bands denoting their show court allocation.
Ground Pass Queue
Around six thousand ground admission passes are available each day allowing unreserved seating and standing around outside courts 3-19. Grounds open from 1030 until 2300 or one hour after play finishes on the show courts. Play begins at 1130 apart from middle Saturday when junior matches begin at 1100.
Day queuers will need to arrive very early in the morning. If arriving at 7am visitors should get in by around 1pm.
4. Daily ticket sales on Ticketmaster
A few hundred tickets for Wimbledon Centre Court, Court 1,2 and 3 are available on Ticketmaster.co.uk at 9am for the following day’s play.
Waiting for these may prove risky as the tickets are usually snapped up instantly as hundreds of thousands of people hunt for the limited number.
5. Debenture Seats
Wimbledon debentures are the only seats available for sale in Centre Court or Court One prior to The Championships.
Debenture seats are the best lower level seats in the house and come with swing badges allowing holders to access to the relevant debenture lounge including bars, restaurants and cloakrooms.
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