• Kevin Palmer
• September 27, 2023

The ballot has opened to buy tickets for next year’s Wimbledon Championship and the huge demand appeared to overwhelm the All England Club servers.

An email confirming the ballot was live was sent out on Tuesday morning, with those hoping to buy tickets for Wimbledon urged to click on the link to get into the draw.

This is a relatively new innovation for Wimbledon, who ran a postal ballot for many years but have now moved towards a more digital and sustainable model.

“Applications for the Wimbledon Public Ballot will be accepted during a 15-day period from today, Tuesday 26 September, until 23.59 BST on Tuesday 10 October. All prospective applicants must register for a free myWIMBLEDON account in order to be eligible to enter the Ballot,” read the email sent out to Wimbledon’s subscriber list.

Successful applicants will be informed in November if they have been successful and will be offered a chance to buy tickets for The Championships that will get underway on July 1 next summer.

The surge of interest in tennis around the world has been highlighted by the record crowds in attendance at the US Open earlier this month and that was backed up by huge attendances at Wimbledon.

The tournament that reached a thrilling crescendo when Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in a dramatic final attracted record crowds of 532,651 fans through the gates over the course of the fortnight.

The move to make the ballot a digital event has also helped to limit the capabilities of touts to cash in on the high demand for Centre Court and Court No.1 tickets at Wimbledon.

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Digital tickets are now issued through the myWIMBLEDON app, which makes it hard to transfer them to secondary parties and has affected the efforts of touts who have traditionally been a presence in the streets around the All England Club selling tickets at inflated prices.

This method for selling tickets ensures fans have a chance to get their hands on the prized seats for the show courts, with the queues around the ground at Wimbledon each summer confirming this is an event that attracts fans who do not follow tennis all year round.

“While so much about The Championships has evolved during the last 100 years, the tradition of holding the Wimbledon Public Ballot for tickets endures and remains a unique element of our approach to ticketing,” said Sally Bolton, Chief Executive of the All England Club.

“Following record interest this year, it’s now time to look ahead to The Championships 2024 and we encourage all fans to ensure they enter the Ballot by Tuesday 10 October to be in with a chance of joining us here at SW19 next year.”

The All England Club’s plans for the future are also continuing to evolve, as they battle with local residents in Wimbledon to get through the planning application.

Unveiled in April 2013, the Wimbledon Master Plan sets out the vision for the future and is a framework against which new development will be assessed and refined.

It is not a set of definitive development proposals and its publication was the first step in a rolling consultation process with a wide range of stakeholders through meetings, presentations and public exhibitions.

Seven new grass courts are part of the plans as well as a new Parkland Show Court that could be used by the local community year-round, outside The Championships.

The plans have been met with strong opposition by local residents in Wimbledon, with some suggesting the All England Club site will be “turned into a circus” if planning permission is granted.