page_title: The Championships, Wimbledon
section_title: Tickets
hierarchical_section_title: The Championships, Wimbledon / Traditions / Tickets
caption_attribution_description: English: Wimbledon operates a ticket resale system where returned Show Court tickets can be purchased. All proceeds from these ticket sales go to charity
context_page_description: The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon or The Championships, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is regarded by many 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, and since 2009 with a retractable roof over Centre Court, and since 2019, over No. 1 Court.
  Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Since the Australian Open shifted to hardcourt in 1988, Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass, which is widely considered as the classic tennis court.
  The tournament traditionally took 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. However, changes to the tennis calendar in 2015 have seen the event moved back by a week to begin in early July. Five major events are held each year, with additional junior and invitational competitions also taking place.
context_section_description: 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.
  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.
  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.
  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 2:30 pm and the money goes to charity. Queuing for the show courts ends after the quarter finals have been completed.
  At 2.40pm on Day Seven (Monday 28 June) of the 2010 Championships, the one-millionth numbered Wimbledon queue card was handed out to Rose Stanley from South Africa.
caption: Wimbledon operates a ticket resale system where returned Show Court tickets can be purchased.[65] All proceeds go to charity.[66]
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