Latest news with #MichelleDite
The Independent
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
On a budget? Here's how to get Wimbledon Centre Court tickets for just £15
Wimbledon spectators have the opportunity to secure prime seats on Centre Court for a mere £15, a significant reduction from the standard ticket prices. This bargain contrasts sharply with the cost for top-tier seats at the grass-court Grand Slam, which reach £160 on Friday and escalate to £270 by the close of Week 2, before going up again for the singles finals. The key to unlocking these savings lies in the official resale service. Available exclusively to those already on-site with a valid ticket, the system operates through a daily lottery via the Wimbledon app. Successful participants can gain access to Centre Court for £15, or secure a spot on No. 1 Court or No. 2 Court for just £10 each. These coveted spots become available when other spectators depart the grounds before the day's play concludes. The All England Club will not say how many tickets get resold. 'We're selling the same ticket twice,' said the club's operations manager, Michelle Dite. 'The primary reason is to make tennis as accessible to as many people as possible.' Money from resales goes to charities, via the Wimbledon Foundation. Nearly $80,000 was raised through the first three days of this year's tournament, and the 2024 total was about $300,000. Wimbledon has done resales since 1954, but until 2024, folks hoping to take advantage of the deal needed to stand in a line once they were on-site, hope they were there soon enough — and hope enough tickets were returned. Now, though, that 'line' is virtual. After opting in on the app, spectators get their phone scanned by 2.30pm at kiosks on-site or near the Wimbledon Queue, where thousands of people camp out at a local park for up to 24 hours in hopes of getting full-price tickets for main courts or grounds passes for smaller ones. Fans then wait for a text message giving the good news that they were one of the lucky ones chosen for the resale, which runs from 3pm-9pm. They have 10 minutes to confirm they still want a used ticket for the rest of the day, and another 20 minutes to get themselves to the green-and-brown ticket resale booth behind No. 1 Court to show the QR code that lets them pay for the cheap tickets. 'You're not stuck in one place forever," said Henry Thompson, 38, a high school math teacher from Missouri in the United States. 'This is much more efficient. Took 30 seconds. Much better.' Mr Thompson, who was wearing a blue hat with the Wimbledon logo, really wanted to see 10th-seeded American Ben Shelton, so he entered the resale lottery and was able to get a seat for No. 2 Court for £10 instead of £85. 'It's beneficial to the sport to give people access to those courts for a reasonable price,' said Marcos Giron, a 45th-ranked American who won first-round matches in singles and doubles this week. 'It's a wonderful thing.' Chen Pinjung, who just finished medical school in Taiwan, waited in the queue for six hours, paid £30 there for a grounds pass, then also got herself into No. 1 Court via a resale for an additional £10 – instead of the £110 it could have cost to see 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina win there on Thursday. 'If everybody knew how that works, I'm sure everybody would apply,' said Rafael Garcia, who was with his girlfriend, Diana Meneses, and her brother, Gustavo Meneses. 'We saw that (resale) office last year, but we didn't know how to do it. Now we will.'
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Want to See Tennis Stars Like Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon's Centre Court for $20? Here's How
It might just be the best deal in all of major professional sports: Tennis fans can get a chance to watch stars such as Carlos Alcaraz compete on Centre Court at Wimbledon by forking over just 15 pounds–about 20 at the current exchange rate. That's instead of Friday's price of nearly 220 for the best seats at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament's biggest stadium. Face value there rises as the event goes on, hitting nearly 370 by the end of Week 2, then going up again for the singles finals. The secret to saving so much cash? The official resale service. It allows anyone already on-site with a ticket to sign up via the Wimbledon app for a daily lottery to get into one of the top three courts at a cut rate, including about 13 each for No. 1 Court or No. 2 Court. Those spots are offered up to the All England Club by spectators who leave before play ends. Wimbledon offers cheap tickets to its biggest courts when fans leave early. 'It's an elite tournament in terms of the players, but it's not elite to get in, which is part of the appeal,' said Ed Hogan, a retired 69-year-old from Reading, which is a little more than an hour west of Wimbledon. 'The concept of resales is great. It's recycling at its best–sharing the joy.' The All England Club wouldn't say how many tickets get resold. 'We're selling the same ticket twice,' said the club's operations manager Michelle Dite, 'and the primary reason is to make tennis as accessible to as many people as possible.' All England Club ticket resales raised about 300,000 for charity in 2024. Money from resales goes to charities via the Wimbledon Foundation. Nearly 80,000 was raised through the first three days of this year's tournament; last year's total was about 300,000. Wimbledon has done resales since 1954, but until last year, folks hoping to take advantage of the deal needed to stand in a line once they were on-site, hope they were there soon enough–and hope enough tickets were returned. Now, though, that line is virtual. Here's how it works: After opting in on the app and getting their phone scanned by 2:30 p.m. at kiosks on-site or near the Wimbledon Queue, where thousands of people camp out at a local park for up to 24 hours in hopes of getting full-price tickets for main courts or grounds passes for smaller ones, fans then wait for a text message giving the good news that they were one of the lucky ones chosen for the resale, which runs from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. They have 10 minutes to confirm they still want a used ticket for the rest of the day and another 20 minutes to get themselves to the green-and-brown ticket resale booth behind No. 1 Court to show the QR code that lets them pay for the cheap tickets. 'Spending 13 instead of 115 to see Ben Shelton at Wimbledon? You're not stuck in one place forever,' said Henry Thompson, 38, a high school math teacher from Missouri. 'This is much more efficient. Took 30 seconds. Much better.' Thompson, who was wearing a blue hat with the Wimbledon logo, really wanted to see 10th-seeded American Ben Shelton, so he entered the resale lottery and was able to get a seat for No. 2 Court for 13 instead of 115. 'It's beneficial to the sport to give people access to those courts for a reasonable price,' said Marcos Giron, a 45th-ranked American who won first-round matches in singles and doubles this week. 'It's a wonderful thing.' Chen Pinjung, who just finished medical school in Taiwan, waited in the queue for six hours, paid 30 pounds (40) there for a grounds pass, then also got herself into No. 1 Court via a resale for an additional 13–instead of the 150 it could have cost to see 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina win there Thursday. 'If everybody knew how that works, I'm sure everybody would apply,' said Rafael Garcia, who was with his girlfriend Diana Meneses and her brother Gustavo Meneses. 'We saw that (resale) office last year, but we didn't know how to do it. Now we will.'
The Independent
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Want to see tennis stars like Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon's Centre Court for $20? Here's how
It might just be the best deal in all of major professional sports: Tennis fans can get a chance to watch stars such as Carlos Alcaraz compete on Centre Court at Wimbledon by forking over just 15 pounds — about $20 at the current exchange rate. That's instead of Friday's price of nearly $220 for the best seats at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament's biggest stadium. Face value there rises as the event goes on, hitting nearly $370 by the end of Week 2, then going up again for the singles finals. The secret to saving so much cash? The official resale service. It allows anyone already on-site with a ticket to sign up via the Wimbledon app for a daily lottery to get into one of the top three courts at a cut rate, including about $13 each for No. 1 Court or No. 2 Court. Those spots are offered up to the All England Club by spectators who leave before play ends. Wimbledon offers cheap tickets to its biggest courts when fans leave early 'It's an elite tournament in terms of the players, but it's not elite to get in, which is part of the appeal,' said Ed Hogan, a retired 69-year-old from Reading, which is a little more than an hour west of Wimbledon. 'The concept of resales is great. It's recycling at its best — sharing the joy.' The All England Club wouldn't say how many tickets get resold. 'We're selling the same ticket twice,' said the club's operations manager, Michelle Dite, 'and the primary reason is to make tennis as accessible to as many people as possible.' All England Club ticket resales raised about $300,000 for charity in 2024 Money from resales goes to charities via the Wimbledon Foundation. Nearly $80,000 was raised through the first three days of this year's tournament; last year's total was about $300,000. Wimbledon has done resales since 1954, but until last year, folks hoping to take advantage of the deal needed to stand in a line once they were on-site, hope they were there soon enough — and hope enough tickets were returned. Now, though, that 'line' is virtual. Here's how it works: After opting in on the app and getting their phone scanned by 2:30 p.m. at kiosks on-site or near the Wimbledon Queue, where thousands of people camp out at a local park for up to 24 hours in hopes of getting full-price tickets for main courts or grounds passes for smaller ones, fans then wait for a text message giving the good news that they were one of the lucky ones chosen for the resale, which runs from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. They have 10 minutes to confirm they still want a used ticket for the rest of the day, and another 20 minutes to get themselves to the green-and-brown ticket resale booth behind No. 1 Court to show the QR code that lets them pay for the cheap tickets. Spending $13 instead of $115 to see Ben Shelton at Wimbledon 'You're not stuck in one place forever," said Henry Thompson, 38, a high school math teacher from Missouri. 'This is much more efficient. Took 30 seconds. Much better.' Thompson, who was wearing a blue hat with the Wimbledon logo, really wanted to see 10th-seeded American Ben Shelton, so he entered the resale lottery and was able to get a seat for No. 2 Court for $13 instead of $115. 'It's beneficial to the sport to give people access to those courts for a reasonable price,' said Marcos Giron, a 45th-ranked American who won first-round matches in singles and doubles this week. 'It's a wonderful thing.' Chen Pinjung, who just finished medical school in Taiwan, waited in the queue for six hours, paid 30 pounds ($40) there for a grounds pass, then also got herself into No. 1 Court via a resale for an additional $13 — instead of the $150 it could have cost to see 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina win there Thursday. 'If everybody knew how that works, I'm sure everybody would apply,' said Rafael Garcia, who was with his girlfriend, Diana Meneses, and her brother, Gustavo Meneses. 'We saw that (resale) office last year, but we didn't know how to do it. Now we will.' ___ Howard Fendrich has been the AP's tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: More AP tennis:
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Wimbledon umpire takes action after player complains of ‘dangerous' spectator
Security at Wimbledon is 'absolutely critical', the tournament's operations director has said, after a player raised concerns about a spectator during the championship's first day. During her match on Monday, the world No 33, Yulia Putintseva, raised security concerns to the umpire about a spectator whom she described as 'crazy' and 'dangerous' and asked for them to be ejected. 'Take him out, because maybe he has a knife and he will attack after, I don't know,' Putintseva said to the umpire during her match against Amanda Anisimova. Wimbledon's operations director, Michelle Dite, said on Tuesday that if players had any concerns, they 'absolutely' should be brought to light. 'We would rather know about these things, and that is what happened yesterday, and the chair umpire then had some really good communication as planned,' said Dite, adding that it was not a stalking incident. A person present at the match told the Athletic that the spectator at issue had been speaking in Russian about the war in Ukraine. Putintseva, who was born in Russia, changed to represent Kazakhstan in 2012. A Wimbledon spokesperson declined to say if the spectator was ejected. 'Security was in the area. The issue was dealt with,' he said. The incident is the latest surrounding security measures after a man who was given a restraining order in Dubai in February for stalking Emma Raducanu was blocked from buying tickets for the championships this month in the public ballot. Dite said: 'Protocols were followed. The matter was dealt with.' On Tuesday morning, more than 10,000 spectators queued outside the grounds with fans and umbrellas to watch British players including Jack Draper, a top contender for the men's singles championship. On Monday, more than 13,000 people entered the grounds after queueing in the heat, some overnight, as opening-day attendance jumped to 42,756 from 40,514 last year. Protesters on the ground's outskirts called for a boycott of Wimbledon's banking partner, Barclays, over ties to Israel's war on Gaza. Temperatures on Tuesday reached 34.2C (93.6F) by early afternoon, as spectators frequently sought shade and were encouraged to hydrate after a woman collapsed while watching a match on Monday. Dite, discussing the incident on Monday during which Carlos Alcaraz interrupted play to hand a struggling spectator a bottle of water, thanked the returning Wimbledon champion for his support and acknowledged there had been a delay in the medical response. 'Yes, it did take a while, but this lady had fainted, so it needed to be managed very carefully. I know there was a bit of delay but we all work very hard,' said Dite. 'It takes a while sometimes to just assess the situation,' she added. 'And thanks to Carlos for his support for going to get some water.' Daniel Evans was the first British player to go through to the second round of Wimbledon on Tuesday after defeating Jay Clarke in an all-British clash. Draper eased into the second round after his opponent Sebastian Baez retired injured, while wildcard Jack Pinnington Jones completed a straight-sets victory over Tomás Etcheverry. Six Britons – Clarke, Heather Watson, Johannus Monday, Jodie Burrage, George Loffhagen and Francesca Jones – suffered first-round exits.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Wimbledon security is ‘critical', official says over player's concerns in match
Security at Wimbledon is 'absolutely critical', the tournament's operations director has said, after a player raised concerns about a spectator during the championship's first day. During her match on Monday, the world No 33, Yulia Putintseva, raised security concerns to the umpire about a spectator whom she described as 'crazy' and 'dangerous' and asked to be ejected. 'Take him out, because maybe he has a knife and he will attack after, I don't know,' Putintseva, 30, said to the umpire during her match against Amanda Anisimova. Wimbledon's operations director, Michelle Dite, said on Tuesday that if players had any concerns, they 'absolutely' should be brought to light. 'We would rather know about these things, and that is what happened yesterday, and the chair umpire then had some really good communication as planned,' said Dite, adding that it was not a stalking incident. A Wimbledon spokesperson declined to say if the spectator was ejected. 'Security was in the area. The issue was dealt with,' he said. The incident is the latest surrounding security measures after a man who was given a restraining order in Dubai in February for stalking Emma Raducanu was blocked from buying tickets for the championships this month in the public ballot. Dite said: 'Protocols were followed. The matter was dealt with.' On Tuesday morning, more than 10,000 spectators queued outside the grounds with fans and umbrellas to watch British players including Jack Draper, a top contender for the championship. On Monday, more than 13,000 people entered the grounds after queueing in the heat, some overnight, as opening-day attendance jumped to 42, 756 from last year's 40,514. Protesters on the ground's outskirts called for a boycott of Wimbledon's banking partner, Barclays, over ties to Israel's war on Gaza. On Tuesday, with temperatures expected to reach 33C (91F), spectators were encouraged to hydrate after the tournament opened with record-level heat. Amid soaring temperatures, a woman collapsed while watching a match on Monday, and a number of spectators were treated for heat-related incidents. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Dite, discussing the incident on Monday during which Carlos Alcaraz interrupted play to hand a struggling spectator a bottle of water, thanked the returning Wimbledon champion for his support and acknowledged there had been a delay in the medical response. 'Yes, it did take a while, but this lady had fainted, so it needed to be managed very carefully. I know there was a bit of delay but we all work very hard,' said Dite. 'It takes a while sometimes to just assess the situation,' she added. 'And thanks to Carlos for his support for going to get some water.'
