title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Two million people in Nicaragua were directly affected by the hurricane. Across the country, Mitch's heavy rains damaged 17,600 houses and destroyed 23,900, displacing 368,300 of the population. 340 schools and 90 health centers were severely damaged or destroyed. Sewage systems and the electricity subsector were severely damaged, and, combined with property, damage totaled to $300 million (1998 USD).


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Transportation was greatly affected by the hurricane, as well. The rainfall left 70% of the roads unusable or destroyed and greatly damaged 92 bridges. Over 1,700 miles (2700 km) of highways or access roads needed replacement subsequent to the storm, especially in the northern part of the country and along portions of the Pan-American Highway. Total transportation damage amounted to $300 million (1998 USD). Agricultural losses were significant, including the deaths of 50,000 animals, mostly bovines. Crops and fisheries were affected greatly as well, and, combined with agricultural losses, damage totaled to $185 million (1998 USD).


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: The situation was further compounded by a total of 75,000 live land mines—left over from the Contra insurgency of the 1980s—that were calculated to have been uprooted and relocated by the floodwaters.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: In all, Hurricane Mitch caused at least 3,800 fatalities in Nicaragua, of which more than 2,000 were killed in the towns of El Provenir and Rolando Rodriguez from the landslide at the Casita volcano. The mudslide buried at least four villages completely in several feet of mud. Throughout the entire country, the hurricane left between 500,000 and 800,000 homeless. In all, damage in Nicaragua is estimated at around $1 billion (1998 USD).


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Mitch was also responsible for the loss with all hands of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' schooner "Fantome". The story was recorded in the book "The Ship and The Storm" by Jim Carrier. The schooner, which was sailing near the center of the hurricane, experienced over 50 foot (15 m) waves and over 100 mph (160 km/h) winds, causing her to sink off the coast of Honduras.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: On the south coast of Cuba, the hurricane caused waves of up to 13 feet (4 m) high and winds gusts peaking at 42 mph (67 km/h), causing numerous tourists and workers on the Isle of Youth and Cayo Largo del Sur to leave for safer grounds.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: In Jamaica, where officials declared hurricane warnings 12 hours prior to its closest approach, Mitch caused moderate rainfall and gusty winds for days. Strong waves hit western Jamaica, with wave heights unofficially estimated at nearly 7 feet (2 m) in height. The rainfall in outer rainbands, at times severe, flooded many roads across the island and left them covered with debris. One house in Spanish Town collapsed from the flooding, leaving four homeless. Many other homes and buildings were flooded, forcing many to evacuate. A river in northeastern Jamaica overflowed its banks, while heavy rainfall across the mountainous parts of the country caused numerous mudslides. In all, Mitch killed three people on Jamaica.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: On the Cayman Islands, the hurricane caused strong waves, gusty winds, and heavy rainfall at times. Damage was relatively minimal, amounting to blown out windows and beach erosion. Strong waves damaged or destroyed many docks on the south shore of the islands, and also sank one dive ship near Grand Cayman. In addition, numerous incoming and outgoing flights were cancelled.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Due to Mitch's large circulation, it dropped heavy precipitation as far south as Panama and Colombia, especially in the Darién and Chiriquí provinces. The flooding washed away a few roads and bridges, and damaged numerous houses and schools, leaving thousands homeless. The hurricane left three casualties in Panama.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: In Costa Rica, Mitch dropped heavy rains, causing flash flooding and mudslides across the country, mostly in the northeastern part of the country. The storm impacted 2,135 homes to some degree, of which 241 were destroyed, leaving 4,000 homeless. Throughout the country, the rainfall and mudslides affected 126 bridges and or roads, mostly on the Inter-American Highway which was affected by Hurricane Cesar, two years prior. Mitch affected 115 sq. miles (300 km) of crop lands, causing damage to both export and domestic crops. In all, Hurricane Mitch caused $92 million in damage (1998 USD) and seven deaths.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: While drifting through El Salvador, the hurricane dropped immense amounts of precipitation, resulting in flash flooding and mudslides through the country. Multiple rivers, including the Río Grande de San Miguel and the Lempa River overflowed, contributing to overall damage. The flooding damaged more than 10,000 houses, leaving around 84,000 homeless and forcing 500,000 to evacuate. Crop damage was severe, with serious flooding occurring on 386 sq. miles (1000 km) of pasture or crop land. The flooding destroyed 37% of the bean production, 19% of the corn production, and 20% losses in sugar canes. There were heavy losses in livestock as well, including the deaths of 10,000 cattle. Total agricultural and livestock damaged amounted to $154 million (1998 USD). In addition, the flooding destroyed two bridges and damaged of unpaved roads. In all, Mitch caused nearly $400 million in damage (1998 USD) and 240 deaths.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Similar to the rest of Central America, Mitch's heavy rains caused mudslides and severe flooding over Guatemala. The flooding destroyed 6,000 houses and damaged 20,000 others, displacing over 730,000 and forcing over 100,000 to evacuate. In addition, the flooding destroyed 27 schools and damaged 286 others, 175 severely. Flooding caused major damage to crops, while landslides destroyed crop land across the country. The most severely affected crops for domestic consumption were tomatoes, bananas, corn, other vegetables, and beans, with damaged totaling to $48 million (1998 USD). Export crops such as bananas or coffee were greatly damaged as well, with damage amounting to $325 million (1998 USD). Damage to plantations and soil totaled to $121 million (1998 USD). The flooding also caused severe damage to the transportation infrastructure, including the loss of 37 bridges. Across the country, flooding damaged or destroyed 840 miles (1350 km) of roads, of which nearly 400 miles (640 km) were sections of major highways. In all, Hurricane Mitch caused $748 million (1998 USD) and 268 deaths in Guatemala. In addition, Mitch caused 11 indirect deaths when a plane crashed during the storm.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: In Belize, the hurricane was less severe than initially predicted, though Mitch still caused heavy rainfall across the country. Numerous rivers exceeded their crests, though the rainfall was beneficial to trees in mountainous areas. The flooding caused extensive crop damage and destroyed many roads. Throughout the country, eleven people died because of the hurricane.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: In Mexico, Mitch produced gusty winds and heavy rains on the Yucatán Peninsula, with Cancún on the Quintana Roo coast being the worst hit. Nine people were killed from the flooding, though damage was relatively minimal. The maximum 24-hour rainfall total from Mitch was in Campeche, while the highest rainfall total was in Ciudad del Carmen.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Then a tropical storm, Mitch caused a storm surge of up to in the lower Florida Keys before making landfall on the Florida west coast. Key West International Airport reported peak wind gusts of 55 mph (89 km/h) and sustained winds of 40 mph (64 km/h), the only report of tropical storm force in the state. Offshore, the Fowey Rocks Light reported wind gusts of . In addition, Mitch caused moderate rainfall, peaking at in Jupiter, though some estimates indicate localized totals of up to . The storm spawned five tornadoes over the state, the strongest of which was rated F2.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: In the Florida Keys, multiple buildings that had been damaged by Hurricane Georges were leveled by Mitch. Tornadoes from the storm damaged or destroyed 645 houses across the state, in addition to injuring 65 people. Gusty winds left 100,000 without power during the storm's passage. In all, Mitch caused $40 million in damage (1998 USD) in Florida and two deaths from drowning when two boats capsized.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: As an extratropical cyclone, Mitch passed west of Ireland and the United Kingdom. In Ireland, the storm produced gusts as high as and waves. The winds knocked down trees and power lines, leaving over 30,000 homes without power. One tree fell onto a car in Louth, severely injuring the driver. In Dublin, high winds knocked the roof off of a building, and several other buildings nationwide were damaged. The storm caused airports to close and ferry service to be suspended.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: As a result of the extreme damage and loss of life it caused, the name "Mitch" was retired from the Atlantic naming list by the World Meteorological Organization and will not be used for a future Atlantic hurricane. The name was replaced with the name "Matthew" for the 2004 season.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: After the disaster caused by Hurricane Mitch, countries around the world donated significant aid, totaling $6.3 billion (1998 USD). Throughout Central America, which was recovering from an economic crisis that occurred in 1996, many wished to continue the growth of the infrastructure and economy. In addition, after witnessing the vulnerability to hurricanes, the affected governments endeavored to prevent such a disaster from occurring again.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes, but many took this as an opportunity to rebuild stronger houses. With a new, structurally improved foundation, homes were redesigned to be able to withstand another hurricane. However, lack of arable crop land took away the jobs from many, decreasing an already low income even lower.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Following the passage of Mitch, disease outbreaks occurred throughout Central America, including cholera, leptospirosis, and dengue fever. Over 2,328 cases of cholera were reported, killing 34 people. Guatemala was most affected by the bacterium, where most of the deaths occurred from contaminated food. 450 cases of leptospirosis were reported in Nicaragua, killing seven people. There were over 1,357 cases of dengue reported, though no deaths were reported from the disease.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: While stalling over the western Caribbean Sea, Mitch's strong winds produced strong waves, damaging local coral reefs. Later, the storm's immense rainfall led to runoff polluted with debris and fresh water. This resulted in diseases occurring within the coral. However, the hurricane's upwelling cooled the warm water temperatures, preventing significant bleaching and destruction of the coral reef.


title: Hurricane Mitch

text: Mitch caused such massive and widespread damage that Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores claimed it destroyed fifty years of progress in the country. Honduras, the country most affected by the hurricane, received significant aid for the millions impacted by the hurricane. Mexico quickly gave help, sending 700 tons of food, 11 tons of medicine, four rescue planes, rescue personnel, and trained search dogs. Cuba also volunteered, sending a contingent of physicians to the country. The U.S. administration offered at first troops stationed in Honduras, and then withdrew them a few days after the storm. They also at first offered only $2 million (1998 USD) in aid, which came as a shock to residents, and president Carlos Roberto Flores alike. The U.S. later increased their offer to $70 million (1998 USD). The Honduran government distributed food, water, and medical services to the hurricane victims, including the more than 4 million without water. In addition, the country initially experienced a sharp increase in the unemployment rate, largely due to the destruction of crop lands. However, rebuilding provided jobs in the following years. In Costa Rica, reconstruction after the hurricane increased the number of jobs by 5.9%, lowering the unemployment rate slightly.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Bringing Down the House is a 2003 American romantic comedy film written by Jason Filardi and directed by Adam Shankman and starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. The film features Martin as Peter Sanderson, a lonely lawyer who meets a woman on the Internet, only to learn she has escaped prison to prove her innocence. She then proceeds to wreak havoc on his own upper-class life. The film made its release on March 7, 2003 by Touchstone Pictures and was distributed by Buena Vista Pictures.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Peter Sanderson is a workaholic tax attorney, separated from his wife Kate and often too busy for their children, Sarah and Georgie.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Peter arranges a blind date at his home with Charlene Morton, a woman he has been chatting with online. Misled by her photograph and description, he is shocked to discover that she is actually a felon who corresponded with him from prison. Charlene tries to blackmail Peter into clearing her name of armed robbery, claiming she is innocent, but he throws her out after several attempts.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Just as Peter is about to meet with a difficult client, Mrs. Virginia Arness, he is ambushed by Charlene, who draws the lustful attention of his friend and colleague Howie Rottman. Agreeing to help expunge Charlene's record and let her stay at his house, Peter lies that she is his nanny. Charlene is disrespected by Kate's unpleasant, gold digging sister, Ashley, but subdues her in a vicious locker-room brawl.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Peter takes Charlene to dinner, and Kate is upset to spot them dancing together. Returning home, Charlene coaches a drunk Peter on winning Kate back, and they are caught in a compromising position by Peter's bigoted neighbor, his boss’ sister. Charlene helps Georgie overcome his struggles with reading, rescues Sarah from unwanted advances at a party, and guides Peter toward becoming a more understanding parent.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Impressing Kate with his new commitment to spending time with their kids, Peter attempts to invite her over but is interrupted by a call, to Kate's disappointment. He races home to meet Mrs. Arness, who invites herself to dinner and reminisces fondly about her family's degrading treatment of black servants, angering Charlene. A TV news report declares Charlene a fugitive, having broken out of prison, and includes security footage from a bank robbery, appearing to prove that a masked Charlene committed the crime.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Mrs. Arness leaves, refusing to sign the lucrative contract for Peter's firm, and Peter sends Charlene away. At the office, he discovers Mrs. Arness has notified the FBI, and sneaks out to his car. He is threatened at gunpoint by Widow, Charlene's ex-boyfriend, who warns him not to reopen her case, but Peter manages to drive off. Realizing Widow must have framed Charlene, Peter returns home to ask for his children's help finding her.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Sarah admits that she gave Charlene his cell phone, which Peter calls and picks Charlene up. He explains that she was set up by Widow, who is likely at a club downtown. Peter drops Charlene off at his house, saying he is returning to the office, but instead goes to the club. Buying street clothes off of a passer-by, Peter enters the club in disguise. Kate arrives at Peter's house to find the children waiting while the FBI search the premises.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Charlene calls Howie to drive her to the home of Mrs. Arness, who refuses to let Charlene explain herself, leading Charlene and Howie to kidnap Mrs. Arness and her beloved French bulldog. Charlene calls Sarah and realizes Peter went to the club, where Peter attempts to blend in but is captured by Widow.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Peter gets Widow to confess to having committed the robbery disguised as Charlene. Arriving at the club, Mrs. Arness gets drunk and high while Charlene calls the authorities, and she and Howie confront Widow. After a scuffle for his gun, Widow shoots Charlene, and the FBI storm the club. Charlene is saved from the bullet by Peter's titanium cell phone, and Peter reveals that he recorded Widow's confession on a boombox, leading to Charlene’s exoneration and Widow’s arrest.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Having secured Mrs. Arness as a multibillion-dollar client, Peter and Howie start their own firm. Moving into their new office, Peter is surprised by Charlene, and they exchange thanks for their impact on each other's lives. Kate arrives, and she and Peter reconcile as his cell phone rings. He tosses it out the window and they kiss; downstairs, Charlene and Howie appear to do the same.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on March 4, 2003 by Hollywood Records. It peaked at 111 on the "Billboard" 200 and 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: "Bringing Down the House" received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 151 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "Though the cast shines, they can't save this comedy, which is overly contrived and filled with outdated and offensive racial jokes." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 39 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "generally negative reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine wrote: "There are certainly good laughs to be had. But the contrived script and bland direction prevent the film from ever developing a comic life of its own, leaving what fun there is seeming like the foundation to a rumpus room that's never finished."


title: Bringing Down the House (film)

text: On a budget of $35 million, the film became a surprise hit, spending three weeks at No. 1 in the United States. It earned $132.6 million in the United States and an international gross of $32 million, bringing its worldwide gross to $164.6 million. As of March 2009, it is ranked No. 231 of the All Time Top Grossing USA Motion Pictures.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: Zygmunt "Zygi" Wilf (born April 22, 1950) is an American billionaire businessman and real estate developer. He is the chairman and co-owner of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings and the majority owner of MLS's Orlando City.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: Wilf was born in West Berlin on April 22, 1950. His parents, Joseph (1925–2016) and Elizabeth Wilf (1932-), are Polish Jews and Holocaust survivors from Nazi occupied Poland. The Wilf family immigrated to the United States from Europe in the early 1950s and settled in Hillside, New Jersey. After a brief stint as used car salesmen, Joseph and his brother Harry Wilf began purchasing apartment buildings and renting units. Eventually, the brothers began building single-family homes and founded Garden Homes. A real estate developer, his two main family-run businesses, Garden Homes and Garden Commercial Properties, have constructed some 25,000 homes in 39 states across the country since their initial ventures; the two entities and their affiliates own and manage in retail and business property.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: Wilf attended Fairleigh Dickinson University, earning a bachelor's degree in economics in 1971, and later earned a J.D. degree from New York Law School in Manhattan in June 1974. President Richard Joel presented him with an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University in May 2010 at the university's 79th commencement. Zygi, along with his brother Mark Wilf, serve as trustees of Yeshiva University. He received an honorary degree at Fairleigh Dickinson's 69th Commencement Ceremony in May 2012.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: After working as an attorney, Wilf joined the family business and became head of one of the company's affiliates, Garden Commercial Properties. Wilf has grown the company from four shopping centers in Northern New Jersey to over a hundred properties, including several large malls. In addition to the commercial properties, the Garden companies also own and manage 90,000 apartment units around the country.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: Wilf and five partners purchased the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League from Red McCombs in 2005 for a reported 600 million. Legal advisement for the deal was provided by international law firm Greenberg Traurig and eventual Vikings Chief Operating Officer and now Big Ten Conference Commissioner Kevin Warren. "Forbes" estimates the 2020 value of the franchise at 2.95 billion, the 17th of the 32 NFL teams or the 33rd of the 50 most valuable sports teams.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: For several years, the Vikings and Wilf stated that their former home, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, was inadequate and lobbied for a new stadium. In May 2012, the Minnesota Vikings moved closer to getting a new $975 million stadium after the state senate approved a plan that relies heavily on public financing. Later that month the deal was signed by Governor Mark Dayton and narrowly approved by the Minneapolis City Council, ending any speculation of relocation. The new stadium, U.S. Bank Stadium, opened in July 2016 on the site of the former Metrodome.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: In August 2017, Wilf, his brother Mark and his cousin Leonard became minority owners of the Nashville SC alongside lead investor John Ingram.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: On May 12, 2021, it was announced that Zygi, Mark, and Leonard were purchasing Major League Soccer club Orlando City SC, along with Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League, and Exploria Stadium, from their ownership group led by Brazilian entrepreneur Flávio Augusto da Silva. The value of the deal has been estimated at $400–450 million. The sale will require the Wilfs to sell their minority stake in Nashville SC.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: In August 2013, Wilf, along with his brother, Mark Wilf, and cousin, were found liable by a New Jersey court for breaking civil state racketeering laws and keeping separate accounting books to fleece former business partners of shared revenue. The presiding judge noted that Wilf had used organized crime-like tactics to commit fraud against his business partners. In September, the judge awarded the two business partner plaintiffs Ada Reichmann and Josef Halpern $84.5 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages and interest that the Wilfs must pay. In June 2018, an appeal reduced this amount to roughly $32 million.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: In 2011, Zygi and Audrey Wilf purchased an apartment occupying the entire 18th floor of New York's 778 Park Avenue for $19 million, reduced from its original December 2009 asking price of $24.5 million while they still reside in their home in Springfield, New Jersey.


title: Zygi Wilf

text: Wilf is one of three NFL owners not born in the United States, along with Kim Pegula (Buffalo Bills, born in South Korea) and Shahid Khan (Jacksonville Jaguars, born in Pakistan).


title: RM-70 multiple rocket launcher

text: The RM-70 ("Raketomet vzor 1970") multiple rocket launcher is a Czechoslovak Army version and heavier variant of the BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher, providing enhanced performance over its parent area-saturation rocket artillery system that was introduced in 1971 (the NATO designation is M1972).


title: RM-70 multiple rocket launcher

text: RM-70 was developed in Czechoslovakia as a successor for the RM-51, achieving initial operational capability with its Army in 1972. The launcher was being produced in Dubnica nad Váhom (Slovakia). Originally, it was sold to East Germany. After the Soviet Union collapse and the split of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it was sold to several countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe.


title: RM-70 multiple rocket launcher

text: RM-70 replaced the Ural-375D 6x6 truck by a Tatra T813 "Kolos" 8x8 truck as carrier platform for the 40-round launcher. The new carrier vehicle provides enough space for carrying 40 additional 122 mm rockets pack for reload. Nevertheless, RM-70 performance remains near the same as Grad even in terms of vehicle's speed and range. This rocket launcher can fire both individual rounds and volleys, principally by means of indirect fire. It is designed for concentrated fire coverage of large areas (up to in one volley) by high explosive fragmentation shells. The fire is robust with almost 256 kg of explosives used in one volley of 40 rockets. The rockets used are either the original Soviet 9M22 and 9M28, or locally developed models. These are the JROF with a range of 20.75 km, the JROF-K with a range of 11 km, the "Trnovnik" with 63 HEAT-bomblets and a range of 17.5 km, the "Kuš" with five PPMI-S1 anti-personnel mines or the "Krizhna-R" with four PTMI-D anti-tank mines and a range of 19.45 km.


title: RM-70 multiple rocket launcher

text: The vehicle is provided with a central tyre pressure regulation system (to allow its adaptation to the nature of the traversed ground), a headlight with white light on the forward cab roof and, if necessary, with a snow plough SSP 1000 or a dozer blade BZ-T to arrange its own emplacement or to remove obstacles.


title: Bon Appétit

text: Bon Appétit is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York and has been in publication since 1956. "Bon Appétit" has been recognized for increasing its online presence in recent years through the use of social media, publishing recipes on their website, and maintaining a popular channel.


title: Bon Appétit

text: "Bon Appétit" was started in 1956 as a liquor store giveaway and was first published as a bimonthly magazine in December of that year in Chicago. It was acquired by M. Frank Jones of Kansas City, Missouri in 1965. Jones was owner, editor, and publisher until 1970, when he sold the magazine to the Pillsbury Company, who in turn sold it to Knapp Communications in 1975. Jones remained the editor of the magazine through both of these transfers. Knapp Communications also owned and published "Architectural Digest", which was edited by Paige Rense. Jones recruited Rense to restructure "Bon Appétit". She converted the magazine from a giveaway into a subscription-based, monthly magazine, as it remains today. Rense became the editor-in-chief in 1976. Condé Nast Publications, the current owners, purchased Knapp Communications in 1993. "Bon Appétit's" sister publication was "Gourmet", before the latter was discontinued in October 2009.


title: Bon Appétit

text: The magazine's headquarters was moved from Los Angeles to New York City in early 2011. Concurrent with the move, Barbara Fairchild, the editor since 2000, was succeeded by editor Adam Rapoport, who was previously the Style Editor at Condé Nast's "GQ" magazine. Prior to joining "GQ", Rapoport edited the restaurant section at "Time Out New York" and worked as an editor and writer for the James Beard Foundation's publications office.


title: Bon Appétit

text: In 2011, "Bon Appétit" launched the "Bite me" advertising campaign, which had an estimated $500,000 budget that included print and online ads, billboards, posters, and sweepstakes. The ad campaign came after a period of "sluggish performance" following its sibling magazine "Gourmet"'s cancellation in 2009, during which a limited number of readers and advertisers shifted to "Bon Appétit". During the same period, other food magazines, such as "Every Day With Rachael Ray" and "Food Network Magazine" thrived. "Bon Appétit" sold 632 ad pages in 2012, which was a one percent increase from 625 ad pages sold in 2009 but a decline of 27 percent from the 867 ad pages sold in 2008. Condé Nast reported 1,452,953 paid subscriptions and 88,516 single copies in 2012 for the period ending November 2012. The median age of its audience was 48.4, of which 74% were female.


title: Bon Appétit

text: In August 2014, Condé Nast combined "Bon Appétit" and "Epicurious" into a single digital food platform led by Pamela Drucker Mann, "Bon Appétit" Senior Vice President and Publisher. Adam Rapoport was named Editorial Director of "Epicurious".


title: Bon Appétit

text: Starting in the late 2010s, "Bon Appétit" was noted for increasing their web presence through the use of social media, their website, and their YouTube channel. From 2018 to 2019, "Bon Appétit" saw a 40 percent increase in video revenue and a 64 percent increase in subscriptions generated from digital channels such as social media plugs, podcasts, and newsletters. The company worked to leverage the popularity of "Bon Appétit's" YouTube and streaming channels towards increasing magazine readership. This included the November 2019 edition of the magazine, which had eight separate covers featuring the staff of the "Bon Appétit" Test Kitchen seen on the channels. As well, advertiser interest increased, with many companies being drawn to the connections the shows’ hosts have with their audience. These companies included Goose Island Beer, The Mushroom Council, Mitsubishi, Kerrygold and Glossier.


title: Bon Appétit

text: On June 8, 2020, Adam Rapoport resigned as editor-in-chief after a photo of him in brownface was posted by food and wine writer Tammie Teclemariam on Twitter and sparked widespread criticism. Rapoport also received criticism after food editor Sohla El-Waylly accused the magazine of discriminating against employees of color, claiming they were subject to lesser pay than their non-minority counterparts. Amanda Shapiro took on the role of interim editor-in-chief soon after. In an interview with "Business Insider", Rapoport's former assistant Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, who is black, revealed that she had not been given a pay raise in almost 3 years with the company and was subject to numerous racist remarks and microaggressions, with a number of other employees of color agreeing that there was a "'toxic' culture of microaggression and exclusion" at the company. Vice President and Head of Programming and Lifestyle at Condé Nast, Matt Duckor, apologized and later resigned after past tweets seen as racist and homophobic were revealed, as well as accusations of being complicit or directly responsible for the pay disparities at the company. In August 2020, two months after the initial fallout, several members of the Test Kitchen announced they would not be returning to film videos for the "Bon Appétit" YouTube channel due to a continued lack of progress in resolving issues at Condé Nast Entertainment. Additionally, Walker-Hartshorn and Jesse Sparks, the only two black editorial staff members at "Bon Appétit", quit on the same day. Dawn Davis, a black woman, was named the new editor-in-chief on August 27, effective November 2, 2020. This followed the announcements of Sonia Chopra as the new executive editor and Marcus Samuelsson as a brand adviser and guest editor.


title: Bon Appétit

text: In 2012, "Bon Appétit" launched a YouTube channel primarily featuring traditional "hands-and-pans" cooking tutorials.


title: Bon Appétit

text: On October 21, 2016, the first episode of "It's Alive with Brad" debuted. The series began with videos of Brad Leone, the Test Kitchen Manager at the time, in the "Bon Appétit" Test Kitchen demonstrating recipes for foods with microbial food cultures, but later moved on to more general recipes as well as outdoor segments at agricultural and food processing sites, including a cocoa farm, a sea salt harvesting facility, and a sausage factory. The series features a casual, unproduced style and comedic editing. The series was edited by Matt Hunziker and filmed and produced by Vincent Cross until Cross's departure in early 2019 to fellow cooking YouTube channel, "Binging with Babish". It was subsequently filmed, produced, and edited by Hunziker, whose style has been credited with shaping the aesthetic of the entire "Bon Appétit" YouTube channel, including shaky cam-style filming, frequent cameos by non-featured chefs, and a focus on kitchen mistakes.


title: Bon Appétit

text: In July 2017, "Gourmet Makes" with Claire Saffitz debuted, in which Saffitz attempted to recreate or elevate popular snack foods such as Doritos, Twinkies, and Gushers. "Gourmet Makes" consistently trended on YouTube and developed a cult following on social media. Saffitz's work has been described as taking "junk food staples and...elevating them from their humble processed beginnings into wonders of gastronomy."


title: Bon Appétit

text: The loose and personality-driven style of "It's Alive", along with "Gourmet Makes", are noted as contrasting the "curated [and] posh" brand of "Bon Appétit" and were described by "Forbes" as having "changed the way Condé Nast approaches online video." As a result, in February 2019, "Bon Appétit" launched three new series on a streaming channel which took a more personality driven approach to their content: "Bon Appétit’s Baking School", a spin-off of "It’s Alive" titled "It’s Alive: Going Places", and "Making Perfect". "Bon Appétit’s Baking School" was presented by Saffitz and taught the basics of baking a cake in a five-part series. The first season of "It’s Alive: Going Places" followed Leone as he traveled Central Texas, and was followed by a second season in June 2019 which followed Leone in Hawaii.


title: Bon Appétit

text: The first season of "Making Perfect" starred Andy Baraghani, Molly Baz, Brad Leone, Chris Morocco, Carla Lalli Music, and Claire Saffitz, and focused on making the perfect pizza. It was followed by a second season in October 2019, with the additions of Christina Chaey and Rick Martinez. The second season focused on making the perfect Thanksgiving dinner.


title: Bon Appétit

text: After the resignation of editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport in June 2020 and the subsequent fallout regarding inequitable pay for staff and contributors of color, the channel became inactive and all members of the Test Kitchen stopped filming videos. Two months later, Rick Martinez, Sohla El-Waylly, and Priya Krishna announced they would be permanently leaving the "Bon Appétit" YouTube channel due to a continued lack of progress in resolving issues at Condé Nast Entertainment. Molly Baz, Gaby Melian, Carla Lalli Music, and Amiel Stanek made similar announcements soon after, followed by Claire Saffitz in October 2020. Later that month, the channel relaunched with a video helmed by the new leadership of Dawn Davis, Sonia Chopra, and Marcus Samuelsson, announcing seven new hosts: DeVonn Francis, Tiana “Tee” Gee, Melissa Miranda, Samantha Seneviratne, Christian “Chrissy” Tracey, Harold Villarosa, Rawlston Williams and Claudette Zepeda as well as the return of Brad Leone, Chris Morocco and Andy Baraghani.


title: Bon Appétit

text: The entire lineup of on-camera staff and contributors at "Bon Appétit" appear in the series "From The Test Kitchen", which features more traditionally structured instructional recipe videos, as well as "Test Kitchen Talks", with videos of the chefs competing in cooking challenges and answering common cooking questions. Several other series feature the individual chefs. Chris Morocco stars in "Reverse Engineering", in which he attempts to reverse engineer a recipe by a celebrity chef from taste, touch, and smell alone. Carla Lalli Music starred in "Back-to-Back Chef", in which she cooked along with and instructed a celebrity in preparing a dish while facing away from each other and using only verbal instructions. The series' guests included Natalie Portman, Antoni Porowski, Ninja, Miz Cracker, Braun Strowman and more. Additionally, chefs Bobby Flay, Daniel Boulud, and Gordon Ramsay have guest hosted the series.


title: Bon Appétit

text: "Bon Appétit" has filmed several collaborations with other notable YouTube channels, including "First We Feast" and "Binging with Babish", with Sean Evans of "Hot Ones" and Andrew Rea of "Binging with Babish" appearing on multiple "Bon Appétit" series, and "Bon Appétit" personalities appearing on "First We Feast" and "Binging with Babish's" respective series. El-Waylly's first appearance on YouTube after the "Bon Appétit" YouTube channel became inactive was teaching Rea to temper chocolate, before eventually moving entirely to the "Babish Culinary Universe" with her own show titled "Stump Sohla". Several other guests have appeared on "It's Alive", including Elias Cairo of Olympia Provisions, chef Matty Matheson, chef Samin Nosrat, and musician Orville Peck.


title: Bon Appétit

text: Videos are produced by Condé Nast Entertainment and were filmed in the "Bon Appétit" Test Kitchen on the 35th floor of the One World Trade Center in Manhattan, where it is part of Condé Nast's headquarters. Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, videos were filmed at individual chefs' homes and other filming locations. "Bon Appétit" won the 2020 Webby Award for Food & Drink in the category Social and 2020 Webby Award and Webby People's Voice Award for Food & Drink in the category Web.


title: Bon Appétit

text: In 2014, "Bon Appétit" launched a podcast titled the "Bon Appétit Foodcast". The series was hosted by former editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport, and featured notable guests such as Ina Garten, Gordon Ramsay, and Mark Bittman. A number of the staff at "Bon Appétit" regularly appeared on the podcast to discuss their recently published recipes. On June 17, 2020, a final podcast was released, announcing that in light of the departure of Rapoport and the ensuing fall out, the podcast would have a new host and a new name, as well as feature a greater range of contributors and developers. On June 10, 2021, a new podcast was launched on the same podcast feed, titled "Bon Appétit Healthyish". The podcast was planned to be a six-episode miniseries hosted by Amanda Shapiro. After the six episodes, the podcast was again renamed on August 19, 2021, to "Food People", and was still hosted by Shapiro.


title: Bon Appétit

text: Since 2009, "Bon Appétit"'s editors, including Andrew Knowlton, Senior Editor Julia Kramer, and Amiel Stanek, have put together a list of the "Best New Restaurants in America". The list is released annually at the end of August for the September issue, and begins with a 50-restaurant shortlist that is then narrowed down to "The Hot 10" list. The first two years, the list was not in a specific order. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry, no list was released in 2020. In September 2021, it was announced that there would not be any list for a second year in a row, with a "Heads of the Table" list released in its place. The list featured restaurants, chefs, and organizations that worked to benefit their communities and those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Magizh Thirumeni

text: Magizh Thirumeni is an Indian film director who has worked Tamil language films. After working as an assistant to directors, Selvaraghavan and Gautham Vasudev Menon, he directed five films, including the action thrillers "Thadaiyara Thaakka" (2012), "Meaghamann" (2014), "Thadam" (2019), and "Kalaga Thalaivan" (2022).


title: Magizh Thirumeni

text: As a teenager, Magizh Thirumeni was an avid reader of Tamil and Russian literature, and often wrote poetry and short stories revealing he found the experience "fulfilling". He thus moved on to attempting novels and writing scripts, before being smitten by film-making. In the early 2000s, hoping to make a breakthrough in the film industry as a director, Magizh often visited the offices of directors, including P. Vasu and T. Rajender, hoping to join their teams. Director Kasthuri Raja signed on Magizh to work on his son Selvaraghavan's first film, but delays meant he first worked as an assistant director in the team of their coming-of-age film "Thulluvadho Ilamai" (2002). Magizh then met his mentor Gautham Vasudev Menon at editor Suresh Urs's office while working on the post-production of another film and offered to work with Menon, being signed up to join him during the production of "Kaakha Kaakha" (2003). He worked extensively on the film as well as on "Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu" (2006), before leaving Menon's team ten days into the shoot of "Pachaikili Muthucharam" (2007).


title: Magizh Thirumeni

text: Magizh made his directorial debut with the 2010 romantic comedy film, "Mundhinam Paartheney", featuring a cast of newcomers. His second film, the action thriller, "Thadaiyara Thaakka" (2012), featuring Arun Vijay and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles, released in June 2012. It eventually went on to become a sleeper hit. Despite the positive reviews from critics and making profits, Magizh revealed that the film would have done better with a wider release and more publicity. He stated that the "Adults only" censor certificate meant that the film could not stay in the cinema halls for a long period of time. However, it went on to gain a cult following after it was uploaded on YouTube. Magizh then made another action thriller, "Meaghamann" (2014), with Arya and Hansika Motwani in the lead roles, which released in December 2014, to positive reviews. His next film, "Thadam", was his second collaboration with Arun Vijay. It was released in March 2019, to highly positive reviews from both the critics and audience, alike. It went on to become his first blockbuster, and is considered to be one among Arun Vijay's best films. He collaborated with Udhayanidhi Stalin, Nidhi Agerwal, and Arav for his next film, "Kalaga Thalaivan". Upon release, in November 2022, it received mixed reviews from the critics.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is played on outdoor grass courts, with retractable roofs over the two main courts since 2019.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open, and the US Open. Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass, the traditional tennis playing surface. Also, it is the only Grand Slam that retains a night-time curfew, though matches can now continue until 11.00 pm under the lights.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The tournament traditionally takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, starting on the last Monday in June and culminating with the Ladies' and Gentlemen's Singles Finals, scheduled for the Saturday and Sunday at the end of the second week. Five major events are held each year, with additional junior and invitational competitions also taking place. In 2009, Wimbledon's Centre Court was fitted with a retractable roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. A roof was operational over No. 1 Court from 2019, when a number of other improvements were made, including adding cushioned seating, a table and 10 independently operable cameras per court to capture the games.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Wimbledon traditions include a strict all-white dress code for competitors, and royal patronage. Strawberries and cream are traditionally consumed at the tournament. Unlike other tournaments, advertising is minimal and low key from official suppliers such as Slazenger and Rolex.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 Wimbledon was cancelled, the first cancellation of the tournament since World War II. The rescheduled 134th edition was staged from 28 June 2021 to 11 July 2021, following from the 2020 cancellation. The 135th edition was played between 27 June 2022 and 10 July 2022, and regularly scheduled play occurred on the middle Sunday for the first time. It marks the centenary of the inaugural championships staged at the Centre Court. The ATP, ITF, and WTA did not award ranking points for the 2022 tournament, due to controversy over the tournament excluding players representing Russia and Belarus.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The 2023 Wimbledon Championships will be the 136th staging and will run from 3 July 2023 to 16 July 2023 and it will be the first to be held since the death of the former patron, Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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".<section end=GrandSlamArticle/>


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

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


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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 11:02pm 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. A new 2,000-seat No. 3 Court was built on the site of the old No. 2 and No. 3 Courts.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. In a related statement, it was announced that starting at the 2019 Championships, quad wheelchair competitions would become a permanent event.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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". 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).


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: All events are single-elimination tournaments, except for the Gentlemen's, Senior Gentlemen's and the Ladies' Invitation Doubles, which are round-robin tournaments.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Each year the tournament begins on the last Monday in June or first Monday in July, two weeks after the Queen's Club Championships, which is one of the men's major warm-up tournaments, together with the Gerry Weber Open, which is held in Halle, Germany, during the same week. Other grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon are Eastbourne, Great Britain, and Rosmalen in the Netherlands, both combining mixed events. The other women's warm-up tournament for Wimbledon is Birmingham, also in Great Britain. The men's event which is outside Europe before Wimbledon is the Antalya open in Turkey. The only grass-court tournament scheduled after the Championships is the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, Rhode Island, USA, which takes place the week after Wimbledon.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Wimbledon is scheduled for 14 days, beginning on a Monday and ending on a Sunday. Before 1982 it ended a day earlier, with the women's singles final on the Friday and the men's singles final on the Saturday. The five main events span both weeks, but the junior and invitational events are held mainly during the second week. Traditionally, unlike the other three tennis Grand Slams, there was no play on the "Middle Sunday", which is considered a rest day. However, rain has forced play on the Middle Sunday four times, in 1991, 1997, 2004 and 2016. On the first of these four occasions, Wimbledon staged a "People's Sunday", with unreserved seating and readily available, inexpensive tickets, allowing those with more limited means to sit on the show courts. From 2022, Wimbledon will make Middle Sunday a permanent fixture to the schedule. This would allow for more leeway for Round of 16 matches to be completed on schedule, as announced in their 2021 Spring Press Conference.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Before 2022, the second Monday at Wimbledon was often called "Manic Monday", because it is the busiest day with the last-16 matches for both men's and women's singles, where fans have a pick of watching on a single day, any of the best 32 players left; which is also unique in a Grand Slam singles competition.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Since 2015, the championships have begun one week later than in previous years, extending the gap between the tournament and the French Open from two to three weeks. Additionally the Stuttgart Open men's tournament converted to a grass surface and was rescheduled from July to June, extending the grass court season.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Both the men's and ladies' singles consist of 128 players. Players and doubles pairs are admitted to the main events on the basis of their international rankings, with 104 direct entries into the men's and 108 into the ladies' competitions. Both tournaments have 8 wild card entrants, with the remainder in each made up of qualifiers. Since the 2001 tournament, 32 players have been given seedings in the Gentlemen's and Ladies' singles, 16 teams in the doubles events. The system of seeding was introduced during the 1924 Wimbledon Championships. This was a simplified version allowing countries to nominate four players who were placed in different quarters of the draw. This system was replaced for the 1927 Wimbledon Championships and from then on players were seeded on merit. The first players to be seeded as no. 1 were René Lacoste and Helen Wills.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The Committee of Management decide which players receive wildcards. Usually, wild cards are players who have performed well during previous tournaments or would stimulate public interest in Wimbledon by participating. The only wild card to win the Gentlemen's Singles Championship was Goran Ivanišević in 2001. Players and pairs who neither have high enough rankings nor receive wild cards may participate in a qualifying tournament held one week before Wimbledon at the Bank of England Sports Ground in Roehampton. The singles qualifying competitions are three-round events. From 2019 singles qualification will increase to 128 players and no doubles qualification will occur. Previously the same-sex doubles competitions lasted for only two rounds. There is no qualifying tournament for Mixed Doubles. The furthest that any qualifier has progressed in a Singles tournament is the semi-final round: John McEnroe in 1977 (Gentlemen's Singles), Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 (Gentlemen's Singles), and Alexandra Stevenson in 1999 (Ladies' Singles).


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Players are admitted to the junior tournaments upon the recommendations of their national tennis associations, on their International Tennis Federation world rankings and, in the case of the singles events, on the basis of a qualifying competition. The Committee of Management determines which players may enter the four invitational events.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings, but it could change the seedings based on a player's previous grass court performance. Since 2002 a seeding committee has not been required for the Gentlemen's Singles following an agreement with the ATP, and since the 2021 tournament, the seeding has followed the same process as the ATP rankings. From 2002 to 2019, the top 32 players (according to the ATP rankings) were seeded according to a formula that more heavily weighted previous grass-court tournaments: ATP Entry System Position points + 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months + 75% points earned for the best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: A majority of the entrants are unseeded. Only two unseeded players have won the Gentlemen's Singles: Boris Becker in 1985 and Goran Ivanišević in 2001. In 1985 there were only 16 seeds and Becker was ranked 20th; Ivanišević was ranked 125th when he won as a Wild Card entrant, although he had previously been a finalist three times, and been ranked no. 2 in the world; his low ranking was due to having been hampered by a persistent shoulder injury for three years, which had only just cleared up. In 1996, the title was won by Richard Krajicek, who was originally unseeded (ranked 17th, and only 16 players were seeded) but was promoted to a seeded position (still with the number 17) when Thomas Muster withdrew before the tournament. No unseeded player has captured the Ladies' Singles title; the lowest seeded female champion was Venus Williams, who won in 2007 as the 23rd seed; Williams was returning from an injury that had prevented her playing in previous tournaments, giving her a lower ranking than she would normally have had. Unseeded pairs have won the doubles titles on numerous occasions; the 2005 Gentlemen's Doubles champions were not only unseeded, but also (for the first time ever) qualifiers.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Since 2001, the courts used for Wimbledon have been sown with 100% perennial ryegrass. Prior to 2001 a combination of 70% ryegrass and 30% Creeping Red Fescue was used. The change was made to improve durability and strengthen the sward to better withstand the increasing wear of the modern game.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The main show courts, Centre Court and No. 1 Court, are normally used for only two weeks a year, during the Championships, but play can extend into a third week in exceptional circumstances. The remaining 17 courts are regularly used for other events hosted by the club. The show courts were in action for the second time in three months in 2012 as Wimbledon hosted the tennis events of the 2012 Olympic Games. One of the show courts is also used for home ties of the Great Britain teams in the Davis Cup on occasions.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Wimbledon is the only remaining Grand Slam event played on natural grass courts. At one time, all the Majors, except the French Open, were played on grass. The US Open abandoned grass in 1975 for green clay and the Australian Open did so in 1988 for hard courts; the US Open eventually adopted hard courts as well.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: From 1877 until 1921, the club's grounds were situated on four acres of meadowland in central Wimbledon between Worple Road and the railway line. In 1908, this venue hosted the tennis events for the 1908 Summer Olympic Games. As the attendance at the Championships grew, it became obvious before the First World War that the 8,000 ground capacity at Worple Road was inadequate, and so the Club started looking for a new site. It eventually settled on an area of land off Church Road, to the north of Wimbledon town centre, and moved to its new home in 1922. At the time the relocation was regarded as something of a financial gamble, costing as it did approximately £140,000. After the Club moved to the current site in Church Road, the old Worple Road ground then became the Wimbledon High School playing field, which it remains today.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The principal court at Church Road, Centre Court, was inaugurated in 1922. The new venue was substantially larger and was needed to meet the ever-growing public demand.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Due to the possibility of rain during Wimbledon, a retractable roof was installed prior to the 2009 Championship. It is designed to close/open fully in 20 minutes and will be closed primarily to protect play from inclement (and, if necessary, extremely hot) weather during The Championships. Whilst the roof is being opened or closed, play is suspended. The first time the roof was closed during a Wimbledon Championship match was on Monday 29 June 2009, involving Amélie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina. The first full match played and completed under the roof featured Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka, played on the same date.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The court has a capacity of 14,979. At its south end is the Royal Box, from which members of the Royal Family and other dignitaries watch matches. Centre Court usually hosts the finals and semifinals of the main events, as well as many matches in the earlier rounds involving top-seeded players or local favourites.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The second most important court is No. 1 Court. The court was constructed in 1997 to replace the old No.1 Court, which was adjacent to Centre Court. The old No.1 Court was demolished because its capacity for spectators was too low. The court was said to have had a unique, more intimate atmosphere and was a favourite of many players. Construction of a new retractable roof on the No.1 Court began after the 2017 Championships and was completed in time for the 2019 championships. The capacity of the stadium also rose by 900 to 12,345.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Since 2009, a new No. 2 Court has been used at Wimbledon with a capacity for 4,000 people. To obtain planning permission, the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single-storey structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not affecting local views. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games played at the 2012 Olympic Games. The old No.2 Court has been renamed as No.3 Court. The old No.2 Court was known as the "Graveyard of Champions" because many highly seeded players were eliminated there during early rounds over the years, including Ilie Năstase, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. The court has a capacity of 2,192 + 770 standing. In 2011 a new No.3 Court and a new Court 4 were unveiled on the sites of the old No.2 and 3 courts.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Because of the summer climate in southern England, Wimbledon employs 'Court Attendants' each year, who work to maintain court conditions. Their principal responsibility is to ensure that the courts are quickly covered when it begins to rain, so that play can resume as quickly as possible once the referees decide to uncover the courts. The outer court attendants are mainly university students working to make summer money. Centre Court is covered by full-time groundstaff, however.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: At the northern end of the grounds is a giant television screen on which important matches are broadcast to fans inside the grounds without tickets to the relevant court. Fans watch from a gently inclined area of grass officially known as the Aorangi Terrace. When British players do well at Wimbledon, this area attracts fans for them, and is often renamed after them by the press: Greg Rusedski's followers convened at "Rusedski Ridge", and Tim Henman has had the hill nicknamed Henman Hill. As both of them have now retired and Andy Murray is the most successful current British player, the hill is occasionally referred to as "Murray Mound" or "Murrayfield", as a reference to his Scottish heritage and the Scottish rugby ground of the same name, but this has largely failed to catch on – the area is still often referred to as Henman Hill. None of these nicknames are the official name.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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. She was found to have with her some paraffin and wood shavings, for the purpose of setting fires in the grounds. The woman refused to give her name or any information to the police and was later sentenced to two months' imprisonment.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The qualifying matches, prior to the main draw, take place at the Bank of England Sports Ground, in Roehampton, from the All England Club.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Social commentator Ellis Cashmore describes Wimbledon as having "a David Niven-ish propriety", in trying to conform to the standards of behaviour regarded as common in the 1950s. Writer Peter York sees the event as representing a particular white, upper middle class, affluent type of Britishness, describing the area of Wimbledon as "a southern, well off, late-Victorian suburb with a particular social character". Cashmore has criticised the event for being "remote and insulated" from the changing multicultural character of modern Britain, describing it as "nobody's idea of all-things-British".


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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."


title: Wimbledon Championships

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


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. BBGs have an average age of 15, being drawn from the school years nine and ten. They serve for one, or if re-selected, for up to five tournaments, up to year thirteen.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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").


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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, as was in practice during the 2010 Championships when Elizabeth II was in attendance at Wimbledon on 24 June.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. The service stewards, wearing uniform, are present in Centre Court and No.'s 1, 2, 3, 12 and 18 courts. In 2015, 595 Service and London Fire Brigade stewards attended. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. The ballot has always been substantially oversubscribed. Successful applicants are selected at random by a computer. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: To get access to the show courts, fans normally have to queue overnight. 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 2:30pm and the money goes to charity. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Unlike other tournaments, advertising from major brands is minimal and low key, from suppliers such as IBM, Rolex and Slazenger. 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. Between 1935 and 2021, Wimbledon had a sponsorship deal with Robinsons fruit squash – one of the longest sponsorships in sport.


title: Wimbledon Championships

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


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Until 2011 when its contract ended, 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: Since 1937 the BBC has broadcast the tournament on television in the United Kingdom. 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

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


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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" 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. ESPN took over as the cable-television partner in 2003.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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. 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

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


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. In December 2018, Sky extended its contract for Austria, Germany and Switzerland until 2022.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: The Gentlemen's Singles champion is presented with a silver gilt cup 18.5inches (about 47cm) in height and 7.5inches (about 19cm) 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, 34cm).


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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 18.75inches (about 48cm) 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. In money as of 2018, £2,000 as of 1968 equals £34,600 however. In 2007, Wimbledon and French Open became the last grand slam tournaments to award unequal prize money to women and men.


title: Wimbledon Championships

text: 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. 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%. 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. 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. 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.