Wimbledon

[Ozgirl75]

We coming over to the U.K. from Australia and my boys adore tennis (watching and playing!) - has anyone done the thing where you turn up in the late afternoon and people pass their day tickets on?
I don’t want to go all the way there if there’s no chance of getting in!
Any other secrets to getting tickets? I don’t even mind just getting into the ground and having a wander/watch on the screen!

The ticket resales happen within the grounds so you need to pay for ground admission and then queue up inside for the resale kiosk if you want the show courts. Or you can watch any of the matches on the outside courts with grounds passes, especially in the first week there are some brilliant matches on these courts. I would aim to get there as early as you can and be prepared to queue, these days you can't really show up late afternoon and hope to get in. They are also reinstating the queue for show courts this year so if you are happy to queue overnight could could get tickets for centre/Court 1 but they aren't cheap. Whatever option you choose its a brilliant day out though!

I definitely can’t do the overnight queue, I’m too old and the kids are too young!
So the only way of going is to either do the really long queue or pay thousands? I’m only asking because for the Australian open you literally just buy a ticket online and go, or buy a ground pass online and go.
How does it work if you’re a disabled fan or elderly?

Like, can you buy a ground pass without the long queue?

Afraid the only way in is the queue. I've camped before and was woken at 5.30 by the day queuers arriving. The grounds don't open until 10 so it was a long wait. But the atmosphere was great and we did get on TV! (Sky news)
You could turn up in the afternoon for the resale of tickets, I think we left about 4 and handed in our tickets for resale. The first week would be best for this. But there is no guarantee of tickets then.

It’s such an odd idea! How does anyone plan it? Like, if you don’t live in London?

It’s a shame as basically all we fancy doing is going in, having a wander around - we can see all the players when they play at the ATP cup or the Aus Open (where you can book tickets like any other sensible event 😁) but I like the idea of at least having a look around!

I think Ticketmaster now do a resale programme for the next day so quite last minute but better than queueing

The queue is actually fine - I got there at 6am and it is very well marshalled and quite fun. Everyone is in good spirits

It sounds fine - except we’re not staying near London so we couldn’t get there really early on the off chance. That’s why I was thinking the afternoon would be fine as we could have a day out and then head over later.
I’ll take a look at ticketmaster though, thank you.

I think if you get there for 4pm the queue is still operational so you would be able to get in still
I remember seeing people entering the grounds still when I was leaving arround 6pm

The ticket resale someone mentioned above is for tickets into Center court etc

Oh that’s good to know - so we could get in later and just pay for grounds tickets?

'any other sensible event' - I find that quite disrespectful. It's how Wimbledon does things, always has. It works just fine and we don't have a lot to be proud of currently.

You can go later but the queue is still operating and can still be quite long depending on weather. I'd get there first thing and wait, you might not be in the grounds for the start of play but you'll definitely get in at some point. They usually announce on social media when the queue is at the point that it's not worth joining it.

The reason they do it like this rather than just being able to buy tickets on the day is that it is far far too popular. The ballot for tickets is oversubscribed many times over, they could easily sell all the tickets in advance and not bother with a queue at all but they want to keep it accessible. The tickets are expensive but not thousands of pounds - they could be if they were allowed to be resold on the open market but Wimbledon are very strict about limiting purchases and not allowing transfers to try and prevent touts.

The other option if you are the UK for longer than just Wimbledon fortnight is to go outside of that time and do the museum and the tour. That's a really nice way to see the grounds and the courts without the queues etc.

Oh I didn’t know you could do a tour, that sounds great!
it’s funny because to me this isn’t accessible at all - you can’t plan, you have to be based in London or physically able to get up and queue or camp. I’m sure it’s lovely once you’re in (which I why I fancy going) but it’s by far the least accessible event I’ve ever been to.

I am with you OP. I think what Lord's do for cricket test matches and other highly sought after matches is better, where there is a ballot that takes place in January. There is also incidentally an automatic refund process in the event of bad weather which I know works from personal experience.

I do not expect Wimbledon to change their process though.

It's because they are in such high demand. You can plan to go (you aren't planning though, you just want to turn up and buy a ticket) and most people have their good tickets well in advance and will be having a lovely. Might see you there 😉

Wimbledon do do what lords does, it has a ballot. However, as a pp said, they could fill the seats 4x over. At least this way some people have a chance. I’ve got tickets for court 1 through the ballot. This year the ballot actually happened in 2020, tickets have been rolled over.

Depending on what dates you're in the UK, you could buy tickets for the Wimbledon Qualifying which is next week in Roehampton. Tickets are £10.

I think what you are missing is the difference in population in Europe Vs Australia. As PP say, you can buy tickets on the gate, as you can in Australia, but there are just FAR more people who want them. I grew up within 5 mins walk of the tennis and , yes, 40 years ago, you could rock up at 5pm, join a short queue, pay £5 for a ground only ticket and then lurk by the main courts and ask the people leaving if they would pass you their tickets. We saw all the big names that way. Especially on rainy days with sunny evenings. But it has changed as it has become more and more successful. There are just more people here who want tickets. The ballot is available for anyone to enter and anyone can turn up on the day and join the queue. Not sure what else they can do.

I bought my tix through the Wimbledon website two weeks ago, centre court, just for future reference. You register with MyWimbledon and they tell you when they’re available to buy. All sold out now but it’s a great day out and guarantees you a seat on that court and access to the grounds and outside court play. I live nearby but my days of queuing to get in on the off chance are long gone. You can rock up at 4pm ish and see if there are any returns to buy cheaply after people have gone home. Locals do that a lot, you see lots of school kids in school uniform.

There were also tickets available through the Wimbledon website.

That's not a foolproof way though, I'm registered with MyWimbledon and have been since it existed, I have my settings set to received marketing and ticketing info and for some reason still didn't get an email telling me tickets were on sale.

I didn’t say it was foolproof.

No, but you said you register and they tell you when they're available to buy, which suggests that they definitely will tell you. Didn't mean to sound grumpy at you, am just a bit miffed that neither Wimbledon nor the LTA emailed me when they had tickets going on sale in recent weeks. I'll be queueing overnight as I usually do.

@RichardMarxisinnocent I'm the same but I AM very grumpy that I didn't get notified. I did get offered community tix (we live close by) via another route but we are away for the day they were offering.
As for OP, we've often turned up after work/school and either got straight in or queued for a bit before getting in on a grounds pass. Start of first week is better for this. Last time we ended up on centre court as some people leaving gave us their tickets.
I love Wimbledon. Not an obsessive fan but love the first week when you can find you're sitting alongside the Williams sisters' mum on an outer court! The atmosphere is fab.
My DCs are working there this year and a friend from abroad who is a data technician is staying so I'm hoping he can get us a grounds pass for this year.

But it's the same as if you were wanting to watch a World Cup match where demand massively exceeds supply? You can't just rock up on the off chance and buy a ticket as everyone wants one. Why do you expect Wimbledon to be any different?

At least with Wimbledon there's the option of the queue for hardcore tennis fans who haven't been successful in any of the ballots.