Break out the strawberries and cream, it’s day one of the British institution that is Wimbledon. Tempted to head to The Championships this year? Don’t get caught out by unauthorised tickets.
Wimbledon officials have issued a warning that any match tickets bought from unauthorised sellers will be invalidated. So how can you be sure your ticket is the genuine article?
Going against the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club’s (AELTC) rules, ticket touts are re-selling tickets online, in some cases for almost 10 times their face value.
Regular tickets to Wimbledon are not allowed to be traded or sold-on, but this doesn’t seem to be stopping the touts.
We’ve spotted sellers on Ebay and Gumtree flogging on tickets at eye watering prices – and brazenly in the face of the rules.
One seller, offering two tickets to the women’s semi-final for £1,500, said the tickets would ‘definitely’ guarantee entry.
And another with a ticket to Court number one on 7 July said: ‘It’s not a debenture ticket, but yes I can guarantee entry with the ticket.’
Smashing the touts
So how do you make sure the tickets you get are completely above board and will get you in?
First, there are four main ways to obtain tickets for The Championships: the public ballot, Ticketmaster, hospitality and the famous Wimbledon queue.
Second, only debenture tickets are allowed to be resold and traded freely. So if you’re looking at secondary ticket sites and you don’t see ‘debenture’ clearly written on the ticket, it’s not authorised for re-sale and could be invalidated at the gates.
Websites like Viagogo, StubHub and Go Sports Tickets all currently have debenture tickets listed.
A spokeswoman the for All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) – the organisation behind the Wimbledon tournament – said:
‘Debenture tickets are the only Wimbledon tickets which are freely tradeable This is the legal right that comes with purchasing a debenture and is judged to be fair value for the long-term investment that debenture holders contribute towards The Championships.’
Have you had any luck with the Wimbledon ballot this year? Let us know if you’ll be heading to the tournament or watching from home – if you’re fed up with the World Cup then it could be just the tonic!
And, most importantly, have you spotted any tickets being re-sold online?
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