Any player participating at Wimbledon in 2026 is going to get paid quite a bit more than they did in 2025 and in other previous years. The grass-court major recently announced a substantial increase in the prize money for this year.
The question is whether players will be happy with the new amount. According to ESPN, the total prize money will increase by 20 percent to 64.2 million pounds ($85.8 million), with the winners on both the men's and women's sides earning 3.6 million pounds ($4.8 million). Runners-up will earn 1.8 million pounds ($2.4 million).
The potential issue is that players were hoping for a total pool of 71 million pounds ($95 million), so while more money is available to those putting people in the seats and eyeballs on screens, the total is still about 10 percent short of what players were wanting.
Wimbledon increases prize money, but the players still might not be happy
Many players, including WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, have been vocal about a potential boycott of majors, especially the French Open, until more money is available. The bottom line is that those running the majors are making loads of cash, of course, because they aren't going to give the players nearly all the money. The tournaments are in the business of making cash, too.
The Lawn Tennis Association, for instance, which is the UK's governing body for tennis, receives 90 percent of the distributable cash surplus from Wimbledon. The LTA is a needed organization because it helps grow the sport in a myriad of ways and takes care of courts, but cutting the financial pie limits all involved.
What seems certain is that more sponsorship money will be involved each year, as ad prices consistently increase. That means ticket prices, concessions, and merchandise, and those watching at home pay more for the tournament to pay itself and the players.
Still, the players are the ones doing the hardest part and are the biggest draw of the sport, of course. One wonders, for example, if fewer people will tune into Wimbledon in 2026 because Carlos Alcaraz isn't playing. He suffered a wrist injury in the spring, and there is still no firm timetable for his return.
Alcaraz finished as runner-up to Jannik Sinner last year, while Iga Swiatek took the women's title over Amanda Anisimova. The 2026 edition starts on June 29 with the women's final happening on Saturday, July 11, and the men's occurring on Sunday, July 12.
Add us as a preferred source on Google