Wimbledon, like most other sports events around the world, has been cancelled this year, but the All-England Lawn Tennis Club’s pandemic insurance will cover about half of its losses.
The event organizers have been paying for this insurance coverage for the last 17 years.
The event policy includes pandemic insurance coverage. According to an Action Network report, the insurer will be paying $141 million as the event has had to be cancelled due to COVID-19. The club predicts that this payout from its policy will cover about half of what it will have lost due to having to shut down the event this year, said the report.
That said, officials from the All-England Lawn Tennis Club have not confirmed the details from the report. By way of a spokesperson, it stated only that the club “has always sought to buy the optimum insurance coverage available.” The Wimbledon tournament was scheduled to take place from June 29 through July 12.
So far, Wimbledon appears to be among the more fortunate as it has some pandemic insurance coverage.
Though many large events have coverage to some degree, many have been left to face their losses completely uncovered. That said, even in the case of those that have event cancellation insurance, the losses to be faced by organizers and other related businesses is expected to be substantial.
For instance, while Wimbledon itself does have a policy to help cover its losses, the hospitality industry will likely not fare so well. Hotels, restaurants, bars and tourist attractions that expect a wave of customers throughout the running of this event will be widely left to cope with their own losses.
The R&A has also cancelled the British Open this year. That event was slated to take place from July 16 through July 19 at Royal St. George’s Golf Club. That event was meant to be the last major championship for this year. Instead, the next British Open will take place on July 11-18, 2021, still at Royal St. George’s Golf Club. That event’s pandemic insurance coverage was not yet reported at the time this article was written.