Wimbledon chiefs are set to receive an exemption from legislation to be introduced in next year’s King’s Speech that would ban the resale of tickets above face value for sport and music events.
The proposed new laws – designed to stamp out touting – would have a significant impact on the sale of debentures by the All England Club, which has generated hundreds of millions of pounds for the business over the past decade.
City AM has learned that the AELTC has had positive talks with the UK government about securing a carve-out from the legislation due to the importance of debenture sales to its income stream, which as a non-profit organisation is reinvested in tennis.
A Wimbledon debenture gives the owner the right to purchase tickets to the Grand Slam tournament for five or 10 years but can also be sold on for a significant profit, further stimulating demand.
Bloomberg reported earlier this year that one Centre Court debenture was resold for £200,000 within months of being purchased for £116,000, while the starting price for a No1 Court debenture is £76,000.
The All England Club has raised nearly £250m from selling 2,520 Centre Court debentures for the 2026 to 2030 cycle, while 1,250 No1 Court debentures are projected to raise more than £90m.
Sources involved in the discussions say that the government recognises that debentures are transferable securities with a long-term value, and are distinct properties to other sport and music tickets. The fact that the proceeds of debenture sales are used to fund grassroots sport is also deemed to be significant.
Wimbledon’s debentures are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and can only be sold if both parties receive approval from the All England Club, which supports the government’s plan to ban price hikes for the resale of ordinary tickets.
The Rugby Football Union also sells debentures for Twickenham, although its model is different, with the payment effectively an interest-free loan. Under the RFU’s terms and conditions, tickets secured by debenture holders can only be resold at face value.
ECB to raid Westminster for comms chief
The England and Wales Cricket Board is set to recruit a new communications director from government as part of a wider attempt to increase their influence in Westminster.
City AM has learned that Ros Trinick, currently director of communications at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, has emerged as the ECB’s preferred candidate to fill the same role at Lord’s following a rigorous recruitment process, with her appointment believed to be imminent.
Trinick is a widely respected communications and lobbying expert, who also has contacts and experience in cricket. She has been a non-executive director at Surrey since May 2024 and is also well known to ECB chair Richard Thompson, having previously worked at M+C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, the agency he founded.
The impending appointment comes at a time when the ECB is lobbying the government for additional funding for grassroots cricket to coincide with next year’s women’s T20 World Cup in England, the final of which will be held at Lord’s for the first time.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced a £1.5m funding package last summer to build two indoor domes in Luton and Preston, but the ECB had been hoping for far more.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak had pledged £35m to build 22 cricket domes before the general election last year, along with further plans to expand the scheme to 40 or more.
The ECB has endured a difficult few years in its relations with government, and was strongly criticised by MP’s for their handling of the Azeem Rafiq racism affair. The ECB declined to comment.
French rugby ready to axe Altrad
The French Rugby Federation is preparing to go to market for a new shirt sponsor, with its existing deal with industrial engineering company Altrad due to expire next year.
The long-running Altrad deal has been a controversial one, as owner Mohed Altrad was convicted of corruption and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence in a French court three years ago. The case also involved former FRF president Bernard Laporte, who was given a two-year suspended sentence and resigned the following month.
Despite this the FRF opted to extend the Altrad deal first signed in 2017 for another two and a half years in 2024, but may look elsewhere in the new tender. The French-Syrian billionaire also owns Top 14 side Montpellier, and there is appetite within the FRF for a sponsor without club affiliations.
40,000 England fans expected at Ashes
England will be cheered on by between 5,000 and 10,000 fans when the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series in more than a decade gets underway at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Friday, according to the Barmy Army.
While the official Barmy Army contingent will be only 500, commercial and operations director Adam Canning said, independent travellers and ex-pats are expected to swell the travelling support to up to 10,000. As many as 40,000 England fans are expected in Australia at some stage of the five-Test series.