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Wimbledon Ups Prize Money; Unveils Centre Court Roof

The stodgiest of the four tennis majors, Wimbledon joined the 21st century this week as the All England Club unveiled a new folding roof for Centre Court. Gone will be those interminable rain delays that played havoc with the draw and caused more than a few people the opportunity to use the tickets that had cost them about a month's income to buy. Now, when rain is expected the roof can be closed and matches can continue unimpeded until 10:00 PM, when they will be halted in accordance with the agreement between the Club and local authorities, a curfew if you will. However, remember, only Centre Court has a roof; all other courts are open to the sky and rain will continue to trash the draw during week one and the early part of week two.

In order to cope with the global financial crisis, the prize money has been increased 6.2% to a total of $18.2 million. The winners will now receive 850,000 pounds or roughly $566, 666, a 13% increase. The reason behind the increase is to offset the weakness in the pound against both the dollar and the euro. The pound has dropped 25% against the dollar and 10% against the euro since last year's tournament.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on April 22, 2009 (boomark / email).