Wimbledon and the Weather

The Wimbledon Tennis Championships captivated tennis fans worldwide, whilst serving up around 54,000 balls, 140,000 bowls of strawberries, 10,000 litres of cream and even 5,000 bananas for players to munch on between games.

What is less well-known is whether or not Wimbledon has event insurance (as featured in our spring 2019 edition), to protect itself against the unpredictable British weather. Back in 2004, it came to light that tournament organisers had stopped buying insurance to protect against poor weather. They chose instead to run the risk of having to pay out a full refund to ticket-holders, should they see less than an hour’s play and refund half the ticket price should holders see less than 2.5 hours play.

In 2006, when they faced a £1m payout due to rain, it was said that they were insured. Since 2009, of course, Centre Court’s retractable roof has reduced the likelihood of Sir Cliff Richard singing ‘neath an umbrella, so the decision-making may again have reversed.

Not having insurance against the weather is something few less deep-pocketed or charitable events that are dependent on good weather can afford to even consider. This is why there is a range of event insurance options available for those not making a tidy profit from selling 140,000 bowls of strawberries and cream, amongst many other things.

If you wish to be certain you are protecting your event this summer, and have no retractable roof to which to turn, please get in touch with a member of our team to discuss our insurance options.

Sources:
www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jun/27/wimbledon2006.topstories3
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/wimbledon/2392629/Wimbledons-riskybusiness-over-rain.html
https://blog.londonpass.com/top-10-facts-about-wimbledon-championships/