Wimbledon profits hit new record

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 05: (EDITORS NOTE: Image was created using a fisheye lens) Andy Murray of Great Britain plays a forehand against Roger Federer of Switzerland during the Men’s Singles Tennis Gold Medal Match on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on August 5, 2012 in London, England.

London, Dec 14 – The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), Britain’s tennis governing body, announced that this summer’s Wimbledon Championships saw profits jump by seven percent to record levels.

The LTA said Thursday the tournament’s profits for this year were 37.8 million pounds, reports Xinhua.

The organisation said that it had reinvested the surplus into the game. The LTA has spent 12.3 million pounds in the past year in developing tennis players and 17 million pounds in encouraging people to take up the sport.

The LTA said it was happy with the increase in the number of active tennis players. A latest survey conducted by Sport England revealed that participation by adult players shot up by 11 percent to 417,700. The rise in numbers among the under-16 group was healthy and it stood at 58,400.

The LTA said Andy Murray‘s Olympic gold medal and maiden Grand Slam win at US Open played a major role in strengthening the game at the grass roots.