How to get Wimbledon tickets for 2027
The Wimbledon Public Ballot is open now. Here’s how it works, what you’re actually applying for and what to do if the computer says no.
There are certain things you assume require money, influence or a close personal friendship with somebody called Tarquin. Good seats at Wimbledon are surely among them. Centre Court, ten rows from the net, opposite the umpire? Those must be reserved for royalty, celebrities and people who own more than one waistcoat. Except that’s exactly where I ended up last year, because my girlfriend entered the Wimbledon Public Ballot and won. No hospitality package, no corporate connection and no suspicious envelope passed beneath a table. She filled in an online form, waited for the draw and was eventually offered two quite ludicrously good tickets. If you’d like to do the same in 2027, now’s the time to try. When does the Wimbledon ballot close? The Wimbledon Public Ballot for the 2027 Championships is open until 23:59 BST on Monday 14 September 2026 . Wimbledon takes place from 28 June to 11 July 2027, but the main public application process happens now, almost ten months before anybody starts worrying about the condition of the grass. There’s no benefit to entering on the first day. It’s a random ballot rather than a digital sprint, so applying early doesn’t improve your chances. There is, however, an enormous disadvantage to remembering on 15 September, which is that you’ll have missed it. How to enter the Wimbledon Public Ballot First, create or sign into your free myWimbledon account . You then need to complete the ballot application itself. Having an account and ticking the box saying you’d like ticket information isn’t the same as entering, so don’t stop halfway through and assume Wimbledon will work out what you meant. Only one application is allowed per household, email address and myWimbledon account. An application is for up to two tickets, and entering simply puts you into the draw. It doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be offered anything. Once you’ve submitted the form, look out for a confirmation email. Successful applicants are expected to start receiving offers from October, although the process can continue after that as tickets are declined or returned. Check your spam folder occasionally, because losing Centre Court tickets to an overenthusiastic junk-mail filter would be an unusually modern form of tragedy. What tickets are you applying for? This is where Wimbledon’s ballot differs from buying ordinary event tickets. You don’t choose a day, court or seat when you apply. If you’re successful, the automated draw offers you tickets for a particular date and court, and you decide whether to accept them. That means you could be offered an outside court early in the tournament, Centre Court during the second week or something in between. You can’t swap the offer for another day, and declining it means you won’t receive another public-ballot offer that year. It’s worth having a quick conversation with whoever you might take before applying, particularly if their availability is governed by school terms, annual-leave forms or a boss who considers happiness suspicious. The element of chance is part of the fun. My girlfriend didn’t enter knowing that we’d get astonishing Centre Court seats. We just got very, very lucky. Centre Court, remarkably close to the actual tennis. Photo: Glen Ocsko. Is Wimbledon worth visiting if you’re not obsessed with tennis? I went despite not really liking tennis. I couldn’t have named five current players, and much of my previous exposure to the sport involved noticing that the BBC had cancelled something I wanted to watch because a match had reached 14 games all. Then we arrived. The grounds felt like an immaculate garden party that happened to contain some of the best athletes in the world. We saw Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, the Centre Court roof opened as the sun appeared, and the Royal Box slowly filled with people including Dave Grohl, John Cena and Olivia Rodrigo. By the end of the day I wasn’t planning to reorganise my life around the ATP rankings, but I absolutely understood why people love going. You can read the full account of my first trip to Wimbledon , including my mum’s rather greater commitment to the sport and the used tennis ball we bought her as a present. What if you don’t win the ballot? Not getting a ballot offer doesn’t necessarily end the matter. Unsuccessful applicants may be given access to Wimbledon’s official returns shop in the run-up to the tournament, so keep an eye on emails attached to your myWimbledon account. Official hospitality and legally transferable debenture tickets also exist, although both can turn a pleasant day at the tennis into a fairly serious financial decision. The other famous route is The Queue . Wimbledon remains one of the few major sporting events where people can turn up and buy a limited number of tickets on the day, including Grounds Passes and some Show Court tickets. The Queue can begin the evening before and gets busy very early, so this isn’t the casual option unless your normal casual plans involve camping equipment and a numbered card. A Grounds Pass is still a proper Wimbledon day. It gives you access to the outside courts, practice areas and The Hill, with the possibility of buying returned Show Court tickets later in the afternoon. If your goal is to experience Wimbledon rather than demand a specific Centre Court match, it may be the more interesting and affordable way to do it. A few useful lessons from actually going Arrive early. Even with an allocated seat, there’s plenty to explore before the main matches begin, and wandering around the grounds is part of the experience. You’ll also want time for the gift shop, photographs and the traditional examination of whether strawberries and cream remain one of London’s few surprisingly reasonable purchases. We took our own food and drink, which saved a considerable amount of money. Check the current entry rules before packing, because restrictions can change, but Wimbledon has traditionally been much more civilised about picnics than many large venues. Comfortable shoes are sensible too, particularly if you plan to spend time moving between the outside courts. Most importantly, don’t assume that you need to be a serious tennis fan. Watching elite sport in person is different from half-watching it on television while doing something else. The sound of the ball, the silence before a serve and several thousand people reacting to the same point can drag you into a match before you’ve entirely worked out who you’re supporting. Enter now, decide later The application takes far less effort than The Queue and considerably less money than hospitality. There’s no guarantee you’ll be successful, but there’s also no clever system to master. Create your account, submit one valid application before the deadline and let the ballot do its thing. If Wimbledon is already on your list, save Watch a Wimbledon Match Live and make the application the first practical step. You could also add Play a Tennis Match , or commit fully to the project and attempt to attend all four tennis Grand Slams . Just enter before 14 September. You may not get Centre Court, ten rows from the net, opposite the umpire. But apparently, somebody has to.