Wimbledon to receive massive pandemic insurance payout

Wimbledon chiefs are set to receive a payout of more than £174 million ($230m) from insurers to cover losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The figure, released in the organisations annual report, is believed to be much bigger than originally thought and will help the British game at grassroots recover from a year of shutdown.

The original insurance payout, from its £25m annual premium, was thought be to be in the region of £100m.

And players have already benefited from the insurance, with the All England Club making a solidarity payment of £10m to all 2019 entrants.

Every singles player in the main draw is to receive £25,000.

The accounts show that revenues from the 2019 Championships totalled £292m, with over 50% coming from broadcast deals.

Wimbledon put in place pandemic insurance in 2003 after the SARS outbreak.

But pandemic insurance will not be available next year, why Wimbledon will almost certainly happen in 2021 as it has no means of protecting revenue streams.

The US and French Opens did not have pandemic insurance cover.