Debentures
About Debentures
Debentures are the source from which The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, the company which owns the Club’s Grounds, derives its funds to meet capital expenditure.
Without the financial commitment of the Debenture Holders, few, if any, of the capital projects at Wimbledon, such as the substantial improvements recently completed would have been possible.
Debenture tickets are the only tickets which are freely tradable (on the London Stock Market through market makers Evolution Securities Limited) as the Club believes it is fair to those who have invested such considerable sums in buying debentures.
Details of current prices are advertised by the ‘Ground’ Company in the Financial Times on the first Saturday of each calendar month.
Debenture tickets
There are two types of tickets available for The Championships:
Debenture (those allocated to each Centre Court Debenture Holder for every day of The Championships and each No.1 Court Debenture Holder for the first 10 days of The Championships)
Non-Debenture (those sold at face value by the Club through the public ballot, the LTA and its affiliated tennis Clubs, schools, on-day sales etc)
There has long been a legitimate, but unofficial market for the sale of Centre Court Debenture tickets to agencies and hospitality outlets.
In 1989, a ‘White Market’ was established at the Club which, by buying tickets from Debenture Holders and selling them to other Debenture Holders and to Marquee Holders, allows the tickets to remain in the hands of supporters of British tennis.
Centre Court Debentures
Every five years, Centre Court debentures are sold. Holders guaranteed one seat per debenture per day of each Championships during the five-year period.
Current issue of 2,500 debentures covering 2011-2015 Championships, each priced at £27,750, is made up of a nominal value of £2,000, premium £22,000 and VAT £3,750. Issue will raise £59.5 million.
No.1 Court Debentures
Each debenture entitles holder to a reserved seat in the new No. 1 Court for the first 10 days of The Championships for each of the five years. First introduced in 1996 prior to the opening of the new No.1 Court in 1997.
