Wimbledon Tickets Guide
The grass has barely had time to grow since Carlos Alcaraz walked off Centre Court with the Wimbledon Trophy, but its already time for fans to start planning their pilgrimage for 2025!
Now you may be thinking this is due to trying to get the best rates for accommodation or travel. Actually, it’s because the Public Ballot has opened as of the 2nd September 2024. And if you want tickets in advance this is the best way to get them, but you have got to be quick!
Don’t panic, we’ll break everything down so you know what to expect. But, let’s answer the obvious question: why can’t I buy Wimbledon tickets online as I would for other events. In most cases I can go to the website, click “buy tickets” and purchase from an online kiosk. Wimbledon don’t do this, instead using a ballot system that is actually not uncommon in the UK. The reason why is to stop tickets ending up on resale sites or in the hands of people who would just sell them on at vastly inflated prices (the “touts” or “scalpers”). Wimbledon want tickets to end up with people who want to go and for them to pay a decent price.
Before you think about applying, of course you need to know about what price you might have to pay. The good news is that there’s no dynamic pricing here to confuse things, the price of tickets stays the same whether you buy them in October or the day you arrive on site. Wimbledon have a handy table on their website you can look at (https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/atoz/ticket_prices.html) but the cheapest ticket you could get is a Ground Pass on the final 3 days for £20 (though your tennis watching options are more limited at that point). Of course, the most expensive tickets are for front row seats on Centre Court on Finals weekend, setting you back £315 per ticket. However, the same seats on Day 1 of Wimbledon will cost £105 per ticket. This is one of the most reasonably priced major sporting events out there.
The Public Ballot
Right, lets talk about the Ballot. Here’s a step-by-step guide for what to expect for applying for ballot. If you are going to take this route, you need to do so before the 16th September 2024 in order to get in for 2025. If you are reading this in future years, check the dates on the Wimbledon website but it usually opens in September.
First, you create a myWimbledon account (which you do by visiting the Wimbledon website https://www.wimbledon.com/index.html). This will ask you for your name, email address, date of birth and home address. This then allows you to enter the ballot, which is as simple as verifying your information is correct and clicking “Submit” and you are in! Entry to the ballot is completely free, you will not need to pay anything unless you are successful in getting tickets.
One VERY important detail to note is that you can only enter one application from an address. If you have someone aged 16 or over living with you, they cannot also apply for tickets. There are stories out there of co-habiting couples who have both applied for tickets and both been kicked out of the process. So, hope you have a second home or a friend who’s happy to apply as well.
Something else worth noting is that if you are a Wheelchair user, you are entitled to enter a second ballot specifically for you, which will improve your chances.
Once you have applied, it is a waiting game. From October onwards people will be informed if they are successful in their application by email, so check your notifications regularly. If you are successful, you will be offered two tickets. Now, you do not have choice on what tickets you are offered. You could be offered 2 semi-final tickets on Centre Court or two Court 2 tickets on Day 5. You will not be offered a Ground Pass tickets as you can only buy those on the day. So, the minimum cost you could be offered would be two top row seats on Court 1 on a finals day, which would set you back £80. Most expensive of course would be two finals tickets on Centre Court, which would cost £630 total. What you are offered is decided at random.
If, for whatever reason, you choose not to accept the tickets, that is it. Wimbledon only give you one offer, if you decline it then that will be your only chance gone this year (at least through Wimbledon directly, we’ll get to that) and you’ll have to hope for a better offer in 2026.
Let’s be positive though and you are offered tickets you feel able to accept. In which case, you confirm you wish to purchase the tickets and you go through an online kiosk as you would normally do for buying any other product online. You’ll need to download the myWimbledon app as that will be where your ticket is held and you’ll have to scan your phone on entry. Both tickets will be sent to your app so the person with the second ticket will also need to download the app so you can transfer to them. The rules state you can only transfer one ticket, not both.
If you’re not successful, fear not, there’s still hope!
Online Sales
Whilst I said earlier you can’t just buy tickets from the website, you technically can but its complicated. This is where having a myWimbledon account all year round really pays dividends. If you are unsuccessful in the ballot you will be notified of this by email, which also confirms you are eligible for any other advance sales Wimbledon holds, which is where things become a bit more recognisable for those who have bought tickets to other events. Wimbledon now puts any left over tickets online in batches on a first come, first served basis, including up to the day before! You get complete day and court choice based on what is left over, although again Ground Passes are not an option. Note, if you do buy tickets by this route, you won’t be able to again this year but you probably won’t be bothered by this. This method is how I got tickets to Centre Court in 2024 and ended up seeing Andy Murray’s retirement ceremony. However, when I was looking at the site deciding on tickets, I noted that tickets for the Finals Saturday (which includes the Women’s Singles Final) were also still available. Now, you won’t get notifications of when batches of tickets become available online, you will need to log into your myWimbledon account regularly (daily) to see if there’s anything there.
LTA Ballot
Let’s say you don’t want to go through all this and you want things to be a bit more straightforward. There’s a way you can but there is a cost. The LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) is the body that governs tennis in the UK (although they don’t organise Wimbledon, that is the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC)). If you become a member, you become eligible through their ballots. LTA Members get to apply for tickets through ballots for officials, coaches or volunteers, but there is also the “Fan Plus” membership, which you can get for £20. This gets you access to the LTA Fan ballot, as well as access to pre-sale tickets for other tennis tournaments that happen around the UK in London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Eastbourne and Ilkley. If you enter the LTA Fan Ballot, you have a better chance as there are (currently) fewer people entering through that method, but its still not guaranteed. Furthermore, if you are successful you are given lower priority than those who are officials or volunteers with the LTA, so you have choice of what’s left after they’ve chosen theirs. However, once you are able to buy tickets you do get day and court choice (apart from Ground Passes) through a special link to the Wimbledon website you are sent. The LTA ballots open in December and you find out if you can buy tickets around January/February.
LTA Website: https://www.lta.org.uk/advantage/
Amex Sale
If you are an American Express member, you get access to an exclusive first come first serve sale that occurs through them. They also offer other perks and discounts once you are on site.
Other Ways of Getting Advance Tickets
There aren’t many other methods of getting tickets without going to more extreme lengths. Various sponsors and partners of Wimbledon offer tickets as prizes in public competitions. Over the years the BBC, Robinsons and Lavaazza have run such competitions, so it is worth following Wimbledon’s sponsors on social media (full list here: https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/atoz/official_partners.html)
The alternative is literally spending thousands of pounds on a Debentures package, which guarantees a ticket at Wimbledon every day for 5 years, but I doubt anyone with £80,000 to spare is reading this. This also does not apply to any US citizens unfortunately. However, debenture tickets are the only ones that can be resold, so it may well be there are corporate investors who have them. It might be possible this might include your employer, or your friends employers! Or maybe find yourself a man in finance, trust fund, 6”5, blue eyes.
The Queue
We have now pretty much exhausted the ways you could show up at Wimbledon with a ticket on your phone. However, you can still turn up and buy a ticket of any kind on the day if you choose. I’ve done this before where I have stayed in London and travelled to Wimbledon to join the queue. This famous (infamous?) tradition harkens back to the days before the internet, and sees thousands of people waiting for hours in Wimbledon Park to gain access to the AELTC grounds.
If you want to get tickets for Centre Court, Court One or Court Two, there are 500 tickets per each of these courts available for those willing to queue. Given this covers about 10% of those who do queue, its advisable to get there before sunrise if you want one of these (camping overnight is an option they cater for). However, if you want a trusty Ground Pass then you can turn up pretty much at any time. Given the queue caps at around 10,000 before it becomes a one in, one out policy for the grounds, I’d recommend still getting there as early as possible, especially given how it can vary how quickly they can let people in so you risk missing the very start of play arriving too late. Once you get there though a Ground Pass will only set you back £30 during the first week. Then you have access to any court except Centre, One and Two but you can still see plenty of the worlds best tennis players up close and you’ll find closer, more exciting matches this way.
You are now armed with all the knowledge I have picked up as an experienced tennis fan. The ballot is available to anyone in whatever country, so if you’re reading this wondering if these tips apply to you, the answer is yes! This is a lot of information so if you really want Wimbledon tickets, just start by setting up a myWimbledon account and entering the ballot as this sets you up for more opportunities. If you don’t want to wait for the ballot cycle to run its course, then consider the other options I’ve shared. There will be fans out there annoyed I’ve spilled all the secrets as it gives us less chance of getting in but I think there’s plenty of tickets to go round! So, if you are still wanting tickets, good luck and hope to see you at Wimbledon.
If you want to know what visiting Wimbledon is like once you get in, Anastasia and Nick did a podcast all about this which you can listen to here.
