Jannik Sinner was part of a group of players who carried out a similar protest at the French Open (Image: Getty)
A group of top tennis players have announced that they will limit their media commitments for the entire first week of Wimbledon in a protest. The likes of Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka carried out a similar protest during the French Open media day last month. But they are now taking even more drastic action at the All England Club, and planned action will last from Monday, June 29, to Sunday, July 5.
Players have been calling for a greater share of revenue distributed through prize money, contributions to welfare schemes, and greater say in decisions that affect them. The All England Club recently announced a staggering £10.7million, or 20 per cent, increase in prize money for this year’s Championships, bringing the total purse to £64.2million.
However, this top player cohort has pointed out that this means prize money is roughly a 14.4 per cent share of revenue, not the 22 per cent they are targeting. And they will now “limit their contractual media commitments at the tournament to 15 minutes – reflecting that Wimbledon currently pays slightly below 15 per cent of revenues to players as prize money – for the duration of the first week of the Championships.”
Representatives of these players have written to Wimbledon’s leadership to inform them of this planned action. They also acknowledged and welcomed the 20 per cent increase in prize money compared to last year’s tournament.
This group cited three key points when announcing the planned action during media commitments. They said they “received no substantive response from Wimbledon” over proposals on contributions to a player welfare fund and a formal player council, which were tabled a year ago.
They also said the players’ share of Wimbledon’s protected revenues would be 14.4 per cent, 0.5 per cent lower than it was a decade ago. And the group were “also aware that recent public comments from Wimbledon’s leadership have questioned the principle of a revenue-sharing formula — the very foundation of the proposal. It is difficult to reach a structural agreement while the structural premise is being contested.”
During a pre-tournament press conference earlier this month, All England Club chair Deborah Jevans argued that players should not be looking at revenues when making their point about prize money, as they are not-for-profit and heavily subsidise the LTA, while also investing money back into the club and facilities.
Aryna Sabalenka is also expected to take action (Image: Getty)
She said: “Using revenue to determine prize money, it just makes no sense, and we have said that to Larry Scott [former WTA CEO who is representing the player group]. Revenues does not taken into account, the investments that we do. And as I’ve spoken about, we’re not-for-profit, we’re very different to a Masters 1000 event, everything goes back in the sport. So, I am frustrated that that message hasn’t gotten across.”
Jevans and All England Club CEO Sally Bolton hoped the players would recognise the “significant increase” in prize money. But this has not been enough to fend off player action.
And these 15-minute media protests could cause a headache for the BBC. At the French Open, most players held a traditional press conference and then gave one short TV interview with the host broadcaster, and did no additional filming with other rightsholders.
World No. 1 Sabalenka even cut the English portion of her press conference short to move on to national language, so she could have time within the 15-minute allowance. It means the BBC may well have limited time to interview top players participating in the protest throughout the first week of the tournament.
A spokesperson for the All England Club commented: “We are surprised and disappointed by this action. Wimbledon puts the players at the heart of all our decisions and we invest significantly in them every year. This year’s total prize money fund has increased by 20% to £64.2 million, which is the largest increase in our event’s history.
“This is alongside investing hundreds of millions of pounds in upgrades to our player facilities as part of a three-year transformation to create a world-class player performance environment.”
Wimbledon gets underway on Monday, with the draw to be made on Friday, and media weekend to commence on Saturday and Sunday.
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