← Served with Andy Roddick
Served with Andy Roddick
BREAKING NEWS: Wimbledon Announces Prize Money Increase for 2026 | Quick Served
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- [00:01]
A
I have my dream job. But even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. That's where ServiceNow's AI specialists come in. They don't just tell you what to do about your busy work, they actually do it. That way your team can focus on what matters. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit servicenow.com. Hey everyone. Welcome to Quick Served. Brought to you by ServiceNow. I know after two weeks of Roland Garros, you're probably sick of us and you're saying, just go away. We're not going to. We have a very special show today, a couple of very special guests. Deborah Jevons, the chair of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Joining us, Jamie Baker, the tournament director of the championships. He now runs the tournament. Deborah runs the club. But Jamie, you tried to beat me at Wimbledon one time and I didn't appreciate it.
- [00:57]
B
I remember mentioning that to you a few months back at the U.S. open. And I definitely had to jog your memory that the match took place, but for me it was definitely a career highlight. Which says, says a lot.
- [01:09]
A
No. Thank you for joining us, Chairwoman. Lot of conversation this morning you announced your prize money package to today. There's, there's a lot of conversation around tennis.
- [01:23]
B
Right.
- [01:24]
A
And like most things, nuance is probably required. From where I sit, I'm just interested in how do you get to prize money payouts, what are the factors involved when you release a prize money package? And I gotta be honest, this is pretty cool that we have you both on served, kind of just having a casual conversation. This is a cool moment for us.
- [01:51]
C
No, great. Well, no, thanks, Andy. And it's likewise cool for us. I'm not sure Wimbledon's always cool, but this is cool. So thank you for inviting us and also giving us that opportunity because there's been so much talk, hasn't there, around prize money and percentages. And when we looked at our announcement this morning, which was for a 10.7 million pound uplift, getting to 64.2 million as a quantum for prize money, it was just sort of important for us to chat to you and say we start that process at the beginning of the year. We sit down and we look at our long term financial plan and we actually look at the three buckets, we look at prize money, we look at our investment in infrastructure and facilities and services to players and the investment in, in the grassroots and we take those three things and then we make decisions to ensure that we continue to be A, a successful and sustainable business. But B, we do Take on board what the players say, listen to them and you know, and that's where we've got to. Being able to, by running a successful business, giving the, giving a big uplift of £10.7 million, which is big chunk of money.
- [03:08]
A
Yeah, that's, it's definitely not nothing. The landscape of tennis right now, and I try to explain this to people and you know, again, splashy headlines seem to dominate conversations now. And then the actual conversations seem to die in like paragraph five or six. I'm not asking you to respond to the first part of this question, but there is litigation from one of the groups who have said that they represent players. It's a class action suit, which means any player could be a plaintiff. I'm guessing that makes communications a little bit tougher. There is now a new group that's being represented by, by Larry Scott. It does involve the top players. They actually acknowledge that they're a part of this group which, which probably has to, to help a little bit. What's the, how does this get solved where everyone feels kind of good about the situation, especially considering the challenges legally with, with speaking back and forth right now.
- [04:10]
C
So Andy, what, what you, what you said, you, you've, you've highlighted one of the challenges in our sport because if you think back to, you know, when you played Jamie Page had the ATP and the WTA and they were player, player bodies as well as running the tour, you then have the PTPA that came into the mix and recently you have Larry Scott that's been hired by the WTA and the ATP, albeit those same entities, have their own player boards with player reps on. So one of the challenges of our sport is that there isn't a single body for anybody to actually talk to. And if you add on to that the PTPA lawsuit, that by definition, which as you say is a class action that represents all of the players, as you rightly point out, it's a class action that inhibits the dialogue that we're able to have anyway. And what we can say in talking about the future of the sport and the players concerned. And you know, I would like nothing more than to be able to sit down with the players, work with the players, because we listen to the players. And Wimbledon has always respected and put the players interests first. That's what we do here as a club and, and Jamie can talk to that, but we start from the field of play and we work out. And I would love nothing more than to be able to have dialogue with one group of players about the future of the sport. But we're limited. We're limited in what we can say because of this lawsuit.
- [05:39]
A
I do think it's worth noting for our listeners at home. Chairwoman Jevons made the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Jamie Baker was a tour player for a while. It's not as if we don't have tennis people in this conversation or people who don't want great outcomes for players. Okay, level set. You talk. Can we, can we talk about the three buckets a little bit? And this question goes to who? Whoever would like to. To answer it. The investments in the tournaments. Right. Because I know there have been amazing just to, to. To kind of set the. The frame. Wimbledon is my favorite place on earth. Best place I've ever been. I get goosebumps every time I walk in. And it's locked in on a lot of sides by, by neighborhoods. Right. So there, there is an expansion plan. There are all these things. My question is when it expands and it will inevitably create more corporate opportunities. I've listened. Everyone has an opinion and everyone writes a report. It could potentially, you know, have a significant impact on revenue. Are these conversations revenue based conversations? I saw this morning you said using revenue to determine prize money. It makes no sense. Can you explain? Because if I'm a player, I'm going, wait a minute. We're doing all these things and you talk about investment back. But it could potentially double revenue. Should we know the state of affairs before that happens?
- [07:16]
B
So obviously there's a lot in there. We'll probably. Yeah, we'll maybe tackle different bits. If you take a step back on the business model. As to why we would think that Wimbledon has been successful over many, many decades and essentially delivered value for everybody, including hugely to the players. It's because we. It costs money to stage the championships. It costs money to develop the brand over many, many, many years. Now, that, that money and that investment. And I would look at it in two ways. The annual staging of the championships and then the major infrastructure projects. The two things combined. Look at that as the engine that allows us to drive revenue. That then does two things. We can distribute massively to the players and prize money. And then we also have the distribution to the grassroots game. That is, that is our business model. There's no leakage, there's no shareholder. We don't exist to deliver a return to anybody. All our money stays. Stays in tennis. Now, the reason why we. The reason why we would want to be really clear about. Look, using this revenue metric just doesn't make sense for this Business is because revenue only takes into account money coming in. It does not take into account costs or investments. And that has to be part of the conversation because we, you know, we are. The thing that's frustrating sometimes about this conversation is that we are on the side of the players. You know, other people can try to pitch that there's. That we're on different sides here. We are not. We are massively aligned. It's been an unbelievably successful partnership. We want it to be even more successful. We want them, the players, to share in the growth of the championships. And there is a path to doing that. But we do have to take a step back and recognize what is it about this business that works, that allows us on average to generate 10 times the amount of revenues as a thousand event and then also distribute up to five times as much prize money. There's something in there that works. And so that's where we are kind of coming at it from.
- [09:25]
A
Yeah, I mean. Oh, sorry. Please, please, please.
- [09:28]
C
No, I was just going to say, I mean, Jamie's articulated it really well, but there was one, you know, we can all come up with stats, right? But one thing that was really important to us and you spoke about the investment in tournament, other tournaments, the investment that we make in that grass court season leading up to the championships provides two and a half thousand jobs for players. And that's, you know, that's not even the top players. And I think that's just something that's really important and, and matters to us that when we invest back in the sport. Yes, you've got to recognize the value that a top player brings. But you know, you need also to create a pathway and we're proud of that.
- [10:08]
A
Jamie, there's going to be, I think there's going to be some pushback. Like let's say I'm Jannik Sinner, right. And I'm, you know, I think that I'm a part of, and rightfully so, a part of driving revenues. And I think there's a, like the, the, the offset of investment over time against this 22% number for the players. I think is a totally rational conversation. I'm assuming it's just a matter of math to figure out some common ground. So that might be good news. The grassroots, that's, that's great. And it goes back and it helps British tennis and the LTA and everything else. If I'm Yonek center, am I going okay, so I'm playing and this isn't really about the top players. It's about the trickle down. Right. But I'm playing. But am I generating revenue so that I can pay for Jamie Baker's training expenses?
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C
That wouldn't be very much, though.
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A
Oh, shots. Okay. Once you've recovered. Once you've recovered, Jamie, I'd like your answer.
- [11:13]
B
Can you, can you just move on and come back to me whilst I just recover?
- [11:17]
A
No. I'm assuming the training still costs the same, though.
- [11:21]
B
No. Look, that is a conversation that I have had over the last 10 years countless times with loads and loads of players. And it's not a question that I've ever dismissed as. What are you talking about? That's nothing. It absolutely is a recognizable point of view and we do understand. Look, this is why for us, this conversation cannot be binary. Because I'm sure you don't want us to go for 10, 15 minutes about genuinely the start of the championships and the history between this place and the lta. But the general picture is like our partnership with the players, that partnership is a part of the legacy of the championships and has been part of developing what it is today for since we began. So that is part of our DNA. The idea that when we're talking about those three buckets, that one of those buckets would somehow just disappear is kind of not realistic. Like, we have to be productive with the conversation. We are happy to explain exactly why that's in place. And also there's a contractual element to that now as well. So it's not kind of a 10 second answer one way or the other. But it is part of the business. And if you understand the history. I don't, honestly, I don't think it's. I don't think it's crazy to understand.
- [12:49]
A
I get where you're coming from. I'm just saying I think that's going to be a tougher one because things kind of change over time and, you know, whatever it may be. And also I think it's, you know, I think it's worth noting that that's probably not the biggest place for it. I think that's the easiest route to whatever it is. So let's, let's kind of just level set here because we can talk about the problems with being able to get a healthy flow of conversation for the two of you. Let's say we fast forward three years. What do we hope has happened with communication back and forth between the players and the club and Wimbledon?
- [13:33]
C
So, I mean, Jeremy, you jump in. If I fast forward three years, I would very much like there to be a player Council in existence, a player council that has direct dialogue with us and that has to comprise players. You know, you cannot say that the players want a voice, but then some have to then be a part of it. If you look back, I mean, you remember Rafa was part of the ATP at one point, as was. You know that. Roger, I know you're sort of saying maybe, maybe not, but if you want to hear the players, you do have to want to talk to them. So I would love there to be a player council, I would love there to be direct dialogue and I would also love to therefore understand when a player talks about pension fund, maternity benefit, to say, okay, we're able to have this bucket of player compensation. Give us some input into how you think a fair distribution of that is. Talk to us about is there anything on scheduling, what do you feel about the wearables, all of the stuff that matters to the players. I would love to be able to have a direct dialogue with them.
- [14:45]
A
When you say player council, is this specific because one of the issues is is this a player council specifically for the conversation with Wimbledon? And then is it another conversation with, with, with Paris? And then is it because I, from where I said I was kicking and screaming 20 years ago. And it's the same landscape, right? It's, it's, you know, you mentioned the player counts that Rafa was on, but they also shared that platform with the tournaments and then the tie breaking vote and it was kind of easier to stack the deck where it's like, okay, we're hearing you and we actually still control the votes.
- [15:20]
C
I get that. And that is an absolutely fair pushback. But I think, as I say, we have a PTPA lawsuit at the moment. And so therefore, which involves it's antitrust, collaboration, et cetera, so it is impossible for that to happen while there's a current litigation. As sad as that is, that is the statistic. I'm sitting here with Jamie, we're talking on behalf of Wimbledon and that's all we're able to do.
- [15:50]
A
Yeah, no, I totally get that robot. Go ahead, Jamie.
- [15:54]
B
Yeah, we'd also just on a kind of positive note on that, in the dialogue with Larry and the top 10 players initially together with the Grand Slams, we have actually been trying to start this formal communication process since the end of last year. Now, for whatever reason, they have not wanted to do that. They haven't wanted to begin that process. We've made it unbelievably clear the door is completely open. The really positive thing is with willingness on both Sides. There is. Despite. Sorry. Even if the PCP litigation is still ongoing, there is an avenue that we could actually have more productive formal dialogue from players, their representatives, in the running of Wimbledon in the short term, if they want it. That that is possible. Now, the bigger stuff, as Debbie said, all we can say just now, but there is opportunity, but right now, look, our hands are tied.
- [16:52]
A
Yeah, I fully, fully respect. Get. And, you know, that seems obvious. Um, now, if I'm a player and I'm going, okay, direct conversations and I'm a tennis player and, you know, I. I didn't. I barely graduated high school, Jamie, I'm going, am I the one that's going to be having a conversation directly with Wimbledon, or would I want a representative to have that on my behalf? Someone with experience in these matters?
- [17:19]
B
So that's. We are happy to discuss that with them either. Either way. Look, the thing that you can. You kind of mentioned a bit at the start of the conversation. I personally, if I'm around, I would be disappointed if we didn't have any current players willing to give up a little bit of time to hear what they're thinking right now on the tour about what's happening and also what's important to Wimbledon. I don't want. I'm not expecting that person to have a business degree and to challenge people who are working on this day in, day out. But if we ended up with a room full of executives only, I think that would not be quite as good as having a mix, because we pay executives to come and work here. We have a load of them, and I think having some current player would be good. But obviously your time thing is, right, more than anybody else, we want the current players to be thinking about nothing other than maximizing their performance and taking the sport to another level. So that what we see here at Wimbledon just continues to get better and better. So we don't want to impose on that. So it's a conversation with them. We don't want to dictate to them how this shapes up. But the point is, we're open, and let's just get on with it.
- [18:40]
A
Yeah, I think the overriding point is, like, there are things in place right now that make very, very straightforward conversations a little risky right now. And so I think that probably needs to be remedied onto more fun stuff, because I think Wimbledon more than as much as any Grand Slam. And I. Unfortunately, the space between my visits has been been too long. Right. I was there in 15, came back last year. But it's amazing how you keep the tradition and you click on Wimbledon. And it's all the good feels, right? It's the, it's the, it's the center court, it's the, the. The walk and it's the hush tones, and it's all the things that make Wimbledon Wimbledon and why. It fills up a big part of a lot of our hearts. But then, you know, I meet Tim Henman and, you know, he walks me through, and there are parts of the venue, especially on the player side, that I don't even recognize from 11 years ago. Right. Talk about the Millennium Building. Talk about a lot of the things that will be different this year and next year at the Championships.
- [20:00]
C
Yeah, I'm going to hand over to Jamie because he's clearly been leading that. But if you think the old. And do you remember the Millennium Building now? And Jamie will talk you through that, which is where the old Court one was as well. You know that to be the old Court one. And the flare facilities back then were one floor, which was just a tea room and a balcony above. And that was all that the players had way back then. And you compare that with now, which, I mean, just say, jamie, it's amazing.
- [20:30]
B
Yeah. This is actually one of the first projects I worked on when I started here about eight years ago. And it's such a good example of us. Although there's no formal forum for it, through conversations, it was really obvious that as players were starting to earn more money, the size of their teams were increasing, professionalism was going up, but they also wanted more space at the same time. And I was, you know, we're trying to reach the absolute top level of standards everywhere. And I was kind of sitting there thinking, look, we have this unbelievably prestigious event. Everybody, even Rafa, talks about how special it was to win Wimbledon. You know, we've got all of that. And actually, I want the same players to be thinking, I cannot wait to get back to Wimbledon because it is the very best performance environment on the tour. That is the goal, and that's what we've tried to do. So that's what all of our planning has been about. And these things take time to really do that properly. And also, it's only down to the partnership with the players and the success over those years that we have the resources to do it properly. Like they are. They are part of that. And I mean, if you, if you, if you didn't recognize it last year thing, definitely we need to make sure that somebody brings you in this year for a bit of A guide because I went in the other day for the first time in a few weeks and even I was struggling.
- [21:54]
A
I'll be, I'll be hiding over in the media area, far away from anything to do with the players. Chairwoman, the talk through, like I'm just, and this is just me nerding out now on our, you know, we've had the hard conversations here already, but how do you marry? Because it's not as if you're expanding and making something new and better inside of this like historic vessel and cathedral of sport. It's a little bit different than just, hey, we're going to build more concrete, we're going to build more cool stuff. You know, it's a little bit trickier inside of a historic venue. How much conversation is around? Yeah, we have to, you know, look, be forward thinking and forward looking, but also how do we protect this, like, incredibly special romantic thing for the world of tennis?
- [22:49]
C
Yeah, I mean, you've hit the nail on the head. And the integrity of what Wilton is about, which includes its buildings, is at the heart of all our decision making. And when we're looking to do the upgrades that Jamie's spoken about, we're also thinking about the impact on that on the building. If you think of Centre court, that's over 100 years old and so you have to actually think about that when you're making amendments. So we will be next year actually looking at inside of that and doing things to the clubhouse because don't forget this is a members club for 50 weeks of the year and a lot of that is upgrading. A lot of the wiring, mechanical, the engineering. But what does matter is looking at, and I know Jamie said it, but when you played, all that we wanted to do was make sure that you just had to worry about how you were hitting the ball over the net because the car did pick you up, your food was right, the practice courts were there, etc. Etc. So we start from that basis and then plan and then overlay the integrity of the site on top of that. And if you look, there'll be over 50,000 flowers around the grounds at the championships. If you look at the buildings that go up, they're all in our Wimbledon green. So detail like that really, really makes a difference.
- [24:14]
A
Nuance with the first conversation. Nuance with this conversation. We're on a roll here.
- [24:18]
C
Yeah, we are. We're good.
- [24:20]
B
I got it. I got to share, I got to share one story that through like a plug player that's kind of linked to that and hopefully Novak Won't mind me sharing this. So a couple of years ago, we got the chance to spend a bit of time with him as he arrived. I think you were actually in this conversation as well. And I was talking to him about his motivation and how he was still doing it. And I think he'd come off a couple of early losses at some Masters events. And I was just asking him and he was saying, yeah, all the things you'd expect him to say, look, is it's getting tough and talking about the tournaments that really mean something. And then I asked him kind of specifically about Wimbledon and he said, look, to be honest, I walk in here and every single time it's like, I've been here for the first time and my motivation to win it is like I've never won it. And I kind of was looking at him thinking, ah, okay, that, that, that's why you're so hard to beat here. But it was just such an amazing combination of, of an athlete that is right at the top of anything ever, anything anybody's ever achieved. But also I think the impact of our physical space here. The club also played a little part of that.
- [25:27]
A
Yeah, it's magic. I remember one of my favorite days of the year every year was before the crowds arrive because you can go kind of, players can kind of walk underneath the entire venue to get to the practice courts. And when there's tens of thousands of people on the grounds, that seems like a good route. But I remember my favorite thing was like the practice week, being able to just walk through on the Monday before, the Tuesday before, and there's no one there. And you kind of are able to soak everything in. And it's like, okay, the, the, the season has, has kind of started and you kind of get that mix of ambition, butterflies and anxiety all at the same time. But it's like this beautiful. A melting pot of emotion. One thing we were talking about. And then we'll, we'll, we'll get you out of here because I know this is probably a very busy day for you. Jamie, we were talking about, you were talking about the weather. It's been raining and. But you got the heat wave along with what we saw in Paris this year in my mind automatically goes to like the nerdy place of. How much of a stress test is that? When you get weather extremes where it's under a tarp for a week, but then it's exposed to heat for a week, you probably want that, but not in like a week long cadence at a time. How are the courts. And do the grounds crew ever get stressed about these, like insane weather and patterns?
- [26:51]
B
Coming into the championships is an amazing thing that unless you're the people working on the courts, it is the thing that everybody on the outside who knows something about Wimbledon just expects they're just going to be perfect no matter what, every time, every time they show up or put the TV on. So I, as you would imagine, spend a lot of time with the team. Gets even more time as we get closer to the tournament. And it always amazes me how calm they are. Like just incredible. As you said, like the weather, especially nowadays, the variety in the weather is pretty dramatic. A couple of weeks ago we had an extremely hot 10 days and the last week or so now has been pretty cold again and wet and obviously for, for a living surface, that means that they have to adapt and be flexible and manage, change how they're managing the cores. But I think the thing that always strikes me about that is just experience of the people. And our head groundsman, Neil, he always says to me, look, yes, this is how you build and maintain a particular grass court from a materials and a process standpoint. But he always maintains that the people managing it and having the feel, it's a bit like a tennis analogy with skill and the flair part of an athlete. It's not just about being a machine. I think he almost uses the same analogy for his field that you've really got to be absolutely on it all day, every day and adapting to the circumstances.
- [28:25]
A
Well, I'll tell you, I can't wait to put in a proper fortnight for the first time in a long time. I'm so excited to be over there on site this year. I'm such a big fan of, of everyone involved at the club. And with the tournament, I have to think, you know, rational people who are willing to understand normally get good results. So I'm hoping with all the, the, the talk about prize money, I hope the players say, understand, listen, there's been a billion invested, so obviously that should go against the number you're shooting for. And then I hope from the tournament side, revenues have, have never been better. We're able to expand. We. You don't invest in something that's not working right. So just generally speaking, I hope that, that that happens. I have full faith that that will happen. I hope we stop the last 40 years of having meetings about meetings and really kind of get to a place that, that everyone seems to be happy with. I'm thankful that after announcing this, you're willing to just come on and have a. A very straightforward conversation. I think there needs to be more of that in our game. So I appreciate you all. I can't wait to be over there. Thank you for your time today, and thanks for being unserved.
- [29:46]
C
No, I mean, yeah. And, Andy, thank you and Couldn't agree more. Ultimately, this sport will be successful by a partnership. And. Couldn't agree more with what you said. And. And thank you for, you know, having us on as well. Appreciate it.
- [30:00]
A
I have my dream job, but even dream jobs have not so dreamy parts. That's where ServiceNow's AI specialists come in. They don't just tell you what to do about your busy work. They actually do it. That way your team can focus on what matters. To learn how to put AI to work for people, visit ServiceNow.com.