Wimbledon has announced the biggest prize money increase in the history of the Championships, but the rise may not appease the top tennis players in dispute with the grand slam tournaments.
The All England Club revealed a prize money purse of £64.2m, a 20% increase from last year and a £10.7m rise. The increase represents, according to the players, roughly 15% of the revenue generated by the Championships.
This figure is unlikely to appease the player group, which had pushed for a 16% revenue share in meetings with the All England Club during the French Open, which would have translated to slightly over £70m prize money.
The majority of the top tennis players have been in dispute with the grand slam tournaments for over a year after sending the major tournaments a joint letter requesting a greater share of tournament revenues, contributions to player welfare initiatives and the formation of a grand slam player council.
This dispute became fraught after the player group was angered by the prize money announcement by Roland Garros in April. After the WTA No 1 Aryna Sabalenka predicted she and her fellow players would boycott grand slam competitions in the future to secure greater prize money, the top players initiated a media boycott at Roland Garros, limiting their media duties to around 15 minutes in reference to the 15% tournament revenue share they say the grand slams currently afford them, and refusing to speak with the broadcast rights holders that pay significant amounts of money for such access.
A number of separate meetings were held at Roland Garros between the player representatives and the grand slam tournaments, including a meeting with the All England Club, which both parties described as positive. The player representatives were looking towards the Wimbledon prize money announcement before deciding on their next step.
