After wrapping up for another year, Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association will be assessing the successes and failures of the tournament from a commercial and sporting perspective.
Financially, Wimbledon’s approach is relatively left-field. They are famously content to leave some revenues on the table in order to protect their prestige brand – that means not always shaking the hand of the biggest sponsor that comes along.
Still, Wimbledon’s revenues totalled nearly £425m last year, up from less than £200m a decade earlier. And for the 2026 championships, they will likely set a new record.
That is despite the absence of big-ticket Carlos Alcaraz and the somewhat anticlimactic first-round exit of Serena Williams on her comeback as Jannik Sinner cruised to a second successive title in the men’s and Linda Noskova secured her first major in the women’s.
It will be interesting, however, to see the profit, not the revenue, that the LTA generates for a tournament which saw more prize money handed out than ever before after a push from players.
And it is against that backdrop that the LTA is starting a new chapter in its relationship with two-time champion Andy Murray and signposting a new approach to Wimbledon.
LTA want to be less reliant on Wimbledon as new venture capital deal struck
This week, the LTA announced that it has partnered with Redrice Ventures, the investment company in which Murray is an associate partner, to launch Redrice Sports Collective.
Murray has backed over 40 businesses over the years and, post-retirement, has naturally accelerated his investments.
Together, the LTA and Redrice will find and fund tech companies which they think can help fuel the growth of tennis and padel in the UK.
For the LTA, the organisation behind Wimbledon, the move into venture capital signals a desire to be less reliant on its flagship tournament. Currently, Wimbledon accounts for just under half of the LTA’s annual revenue, which was £104m at the last count.
“I think this is a really interesting partnership for the LTA. I used technology increasingly in my career to help my performance in training and on court,” Murray said in the press release heralding the partnership.
“Working with Redrice for the past year, I’ve seen how founders look at things differently and can identify ways to shake up the status quo. I hope this partnership helps to introduce tennis and padel to people who might not have played either sport before.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
