Tennis-Wimbledon broke attendance record despite World Cup clash


Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 30, 2026 General view inside the stadium of the first round match between Serena Williams of the U.S. and Australia's Maya Joint REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - ⁠Wimbledon enjoyed a record attendance and generated ⁠nearly 5billion social media "impressions" despite competition from ‌the soccer World Cup, the All England Club said on Wednesday.

A cumulative 550,151 fans passed through the gates during ​the fortnight, slightly up on ⁠2025, with many purchasing ⁠tickets on the day via Wimbledon's famous queue.

Daily ⁠attendance ‌records were set on three separate days during the championships.

Organisers credited the bumper ⁠figures to the first rain-free Wimbledon since ​2019 and ‌the unexpected semi-final run of British wildcard ⁠Arthur Fery, ​which helped offset potential viewer losses to the World Cup.

The tournament's commercial appeal was evident in ⁠retail figures, with a record 117,995 ​hats sold across the fortnight.

Broadcasting numbers were also high, with ESPN reporting it was the second-most-viewed ⁠Wimbledon championships of all time. The tournament's social media following grew by 11% across all platforms.

The all-Czech women's singles final between Linda Noskova and ​Karolina Muchova proved particularly popular ⁠in the Czech Republic, where Eurosport sub-licensed coverage ​to free-to-air broadcaster Prima. The ‌match attracted a 38.5% ​audience share and peaked at 900,000 viewers.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)

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