Tennis:The winners of this year's Wimbledon title will pocket a cool £1 million (€1.14 million), organisers announced today. The two runners-up will receive £500,000 (€570,000).
The men's and women's champions at the All England Club will each get £150,000 (€170,000 more than the 2009 winners and nearly double the amount from 10 years ago but still just short of the $1.6 million (€1.18 million) offered by the US Open last year.
"It is important we offer a level of prize money which is both appropriate to the prestige of the event and which gives the players full and fair reward," Tim Phillips, chairman of the All England Club, told a news conference overlooking Centre Court.
Explaining how the championships were able to fund such increases despite the gloomy economic climate, chief executive Ian Ritchie said they had benefited from long-running arrangements with commercial partners.
"It's important to be competitive," he said. "With the official suppliers and broadcasters there is a recognition and interest in the success of the championships. We are looking at longer-term contracts and increases in values of these things.
"We are in a virtuous circle really. We are re-investing and innovating and happily that is reflected in our income so we can look after everyone a bit better."
Ground ticket prices have been held from last year, despite the daily crowd limit being cut from 40,000 to 37,500 because improvements to Court Two have cut the outside court space.
Organisers said there were no plans to show any World Cup soccer matches on the big screens around the complex.