Has Wimbledon priced out its fans?

Wimbledon has long been the temple of strawberries, cream and moisturised stiff upper lips.

It's now also the temple of arbitrage.

All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club's debentures - 5-yr bonds that guarantee prime seats - were issued at £1,16,000 (about ₹1.24 cr) in 2024.Today, they're changing hands for £3,80,000 (about ₹4.77 cr), a return that would make even Djokovic blush.

The men's final alone can fetch £23,000 (₹28.8 lakh) for a pair of seats.

That's more than the annual rent of a modest Clapham flat.Investors justify this as luxury entertainment morphing into an asset class.

New tennis rivalries like Jannik Sinner vs Carlos Alcaraz have driven demand, while global buyers from the US, India and the Gulf treat Wimbledon as a hedge against being seen as culturally 'simple'.All England Club, for its part, pockets the proceeds to fund new courts and an 8,000-seat stadium.

Everyone wins - except the 'ordinary' tennis fan left queuing overnight for a chance at the outside courts.Not to come across as a Roland Garros socialist, isn't sport meant to be watched, not securitised?

Tennis fans in this London heatwave may fancy making money before the tournament starts on Monday.

And, true, the line between passion and profiteering is thin.

But crossing it may be the only baseline fault that makes even McEnroe shout, 'You CANNOT be serious!' ...