Wimbledon raised its 2026 prize money to £64.2m on Thursday, a 20% increase that answers when is wimbledon 2026 is coming into sharper focus at the end of this month. The purse is £10.7m higher than last year and sets a bigger payout across the draw.
The men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive £3.6m, while players beaten in the first round will get £80,000. Leading players from the ATP and WTA Tours called the announcement a genuine and significant step forward, and said the 20% increase was the largest single-year uplift in Wimbledon’s history.
Debbie Jevans and revenue share
Debbie Jevans, the All England Club chairwoman, said revenue share was the wrong yardstick for Wimbledon prize money and called that approach “no sense” because the club is a non-profit organisation. Her stance lands against a dispute that has run since last year between top players, their representatives and the grand slam tournaments.
Players’ representatives had pushed for Wimbledon prize money to reflect a 16% revenue share, a level that would have translated to about £71.2m. The players’ group said the current 14.4% revenue share remains below the 14.9% offered in 2015, leaving the tournament’s latest increase as a step forward without matching the figure they were seeking.
ATP and WTA response
Leading players from the ATP and WTA Tours said Wimbledon’s announcement was a meaningful signal of intent, and they welcomed it as a genuine and significant step forward. In their statement, they added: “Players want to see Wimbledon continue to thrive and support the investment the tournament makes in the game.”
They also said: “The question has never been whether those investments are valuable, but whether the athletes whose performances drive the event’s global success should receive a fair share of its tremendous financial growth.” The group added: “Our goal is not to diminish that success, it is to ensure that its continued growth benefits equitably everyone who contributes to it.”
French Open boycott fallout
The dispute has already spilled beyond Wimbledon. Ahead of the French Open, top male and female players took part in a media boycott, and the players’ group said the new prize-money figure does not settle the other issues still on the table: a player welfare fund, a revenue sharing formula and a player council.
The All England Club believes starting a player council would give the sides a place to discuss those issues, but the latest increase leaves the larger argument intact as the 2026 Championships open at the end of this month.
