Wimbledon announce record £64.2 million prize money amid player discontent

[p]All England Club chiefs revealed the substantial cash boost for players during a pre-tournament press conference on Thursday.[/p][p]The Wimbledon singles champions will now pocket £3.6 million each.[/p][p]Italy's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sinner-jannik/6HdC3z4H/"]Jannik Sinner[/a] is the reigning men's champion, while Poland's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/swiatek-iga/jNyZsXZe/"]Iga Swiatek[/a] won the women's event last year.[/p][p][b]Even first-round losers will be richly compensated at Wimbledon this year, with £80,000 allocated to players beaten at that stage.[/b][/p][p]The Wimbledon raise comes after several of the world's top players staged a protest before the recent French Open by limiting media activities to 15 minutes.[/p][p]The players were frustrated that prize money at Roland Garros only increased by 9.5% from 2025 and stayed at around 15% of the revenue generated from the clay-court tournament.[/p][p]It is believed the players want the prize fund to be closer to 22% of the tournament's revenue.[/p][embed guid="13d1feee-640f-4e3b-ab64-192de2861a0b" url="https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/2063921322099441995" social-type="twitter" /][p]Wimbledon's increase is from £53.5 million last year to £64.2 million for this year's event, which starts in south-west London on June 29.[/p][p][b]"I recognise there is one topic you are most interested in hearing about this morning and that's prize money,"[/b] Wimbledon chair Debbie Jevans told reporters on Thursday.[/p][p][b]"For 2026, the prize money fund will be £64.2 million, which is a 20% increase on last year and a £10.7 million uplift, which allows players to continue to share in our success.[/b][/p][p][b]"Our support for players is distributed throughout the draw. Gentleman and Ladies singles champions will each receive £3.6 million and first-round prize money is set at £80,000, so players who lose in the first round will share more than £5 million in prize money.[/b][/p][p][b]"These figures represent a substantial increase in prize money."[/b][/p][embed guid="cea3582f-1fcd-4e42-b081-8a1d94f1a6a1" url="https://x.com/Wimbledon/status/2065026253472616806" social-type="twitter" /][p]Wimbledon CEO Sally Bolton met with the players' representative [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scott-larry/Stdn2bl6/"]Larry Scott[/a] at Roland Garros last month to discuss the prize money issue.[/p][p][b]"There has been no dialogue with the players directly, but we have had dialogue with Larry Scott, who has been appointed by some of players to represent them,"[/b] Jevans said.[/p][p][b]"We have had dialogue, email exchanges and a meeting in Paris. After Paris you have all read the 22% and £70 million, what we have done is right and appropriate.[/b][/p][p][b]"We begin looking at prize money in January. We looked at investment in facilities, in grassroots and player prize money. I would hope the players would welcome it."[/b][/p]