Early in the morning, the small town of Wimbledon can already feel the majesty of the highest temperature this year. Although it has not yet reached noon, the temperature is already striding towards 30 degrees Celsius. The golden sunshine is shining on the grassy grass, like a
A quiet rural picture slowly unfolds.
However, the surging crowds of people broke the tranquility, and the town was swept into the storm of the Carnival carnival.
In the other three Grand Slams, the kick-off time of the center court is often later, but the kick-off time of other courts is earlier, forming a dislocation; but this is not the case at Wimbledon, all courts kick-off at exactly 1 p.m.
, spectators can come to watch the game after lunch.
At this time, it was just after nine o'clock, and there were still four hours before the kick-off time, but Wimbledon was already a sea of people. Is this too early?
Not really.
To be precise, if you are a fan who has just arrived at Wimbledon now, you will look like an amateur and you are already too late.
Spectators arrive at Wimbledon early just to buy tickets.
The reason is that Wimbledon has retained a very special one among countless traditions:
Queue up to buy tickets.
In the Internet age, online ticket purchasing through websites and applications has become fully popular. Like the US Open, ticket purchasing channels will be launched even a year in advance to remind fans to set time reminders and wait for ticket issuance notifications. Audiences only need to go to the web page
Buying tickets can be done with just a few clicks.
However, Wimbledon is an exception. They still insist that spectators need to arrive at the venue and queue up to buy tickets.
Of course, Wimbledon is not stubborn. They insist on a club membership system and have also set up some ticket purchasing methods that keep pace with the times.
The first is to register online in advance for the lottery, that is, the lottery. Register with the official six months in advance every year, and then wait for the lottery. The chance is very, very low.
The second option is to purchase tickets online. Wimbledon has also opened an online ticket purchasing system. The tickets go on sale the night before the match day. Each person is limited to purchasing two tickets. In other words, if you want to watch the event on the fourth match day, just
You must prepare to grab tickets on the third game night.
The key is that the online ticket purchase channel only provides 200 tickets - not for one stadium, but for all the stadiums combined, a total of 200 tickets. After being allocated to different stadiums, the average number for each stadium is less than 20. Compared with
The first lottery is stronger, but not much stronger.
The third option, buying bonds issued by Wimbledon or joining the All England Club to get tickets, is limited to a few wealthy people.
The fourth option is to queue up to buy tickets.
Maybe, some people will wonder, leaving aside the third ordinary ticket purchase method that does not work, the first two ticket purchase methods are not humane, but seem to be making things difficult for the audience. What on earth is the Wimbledon Organizing Committee thinking?
Actually, it's not complicated.
Wimbledon respects tradition, and they always believe that queuing up to buy tickets can mobilize the enthusiasm and enthusiasm of the audience; moreover, Wimbledon has set up a series of relevant measures to encourage it.
For example, Wimbledon reserves the best seats with the same ticket price for spectators who queue up all night long. In other words, the spectators sitting in the rock area at the front of the stadium are often not distinguished members or wealthy people, but the most enthusiastic and crazy ones.
A group of fans.
For example, in order to limit ticket scalping, Wimbledon has set up thresholds and a procedure before entering the final ticket sales window:
The staff will distribute the wristbands one by one on site, the center court is silver, the No. 1 court is pink, the No. 2 court is blue, and so on. When you go forward with the bracelet, and then when you arrive at the ticket window, you must buy tickets based on the bracelet.
.
At the same time, each person can only have one bracelet, so the staff can clearly calculate the number of ticket sales. Once the bracelets corresponding to the stadium are distributed, it means that the stadium is full, and the spectators behind will naturally be unable to purchase.
Either choose another course or give up.
Of course, scalpers are still unstoppable, but it is precisely because of Wimbledon’s many hurdles that the scalpers’ costs have increased, and the final ticket prices have been unbelievable.
Taking the Central Court as an example, the unified price is 78 pounds, but after the scalper changed hands, the price was 1,500 pounds, which increased by nearly 20 times. Ordinary fans often cannot afford to buy it, which also weakens the buyer's market to a great extent.
The existence of cattle further led to the reduction of scalpers.
Most importantly, Wimbledon encourages spectators to queue up and buy their own tickets:
The tickets are also 78 pounds. If you can stand at the front of the ticket line, you will be in the first row of the stadium and enjoy the game of the giants up close; but if you are late, you may have to do it.
Go to the top corner of the third floor and you have to use a telescope to see the game.
In addition, just like buying tickets online, every time you queue up to buy tickets, you can only buy tickets for the day, and you cannot buy later tickets in advance. For fans, this is a good thing and a bad thing. The biggest advantage is that they can buy tickets on the next day’s schedule and
Purchase tickets after the stadium arrangements are announced——
In this way, you can ensure that you enjoy the game you want to watch, instead of blindly booking a ticket a week in advance only to find that your favorite player has been arranged to another stadium.
It is precisely because of this that countless fans often come to the site to set up tents one night in advance and stay up all night waiting for the ticket window to open the next morning to buy tickets for their favorite games as soon as possible.
Some fanatical fans even queued up from six o'clock in the morning the day before to watch the Big Four game. After queuing for twenty-seven hours, they got what they wanted and bought tickets to the Center Court - just seventy-eight pounds.
To this end, Wimbledon has specially set up parking lots, campsites, luggage storage, dining cars, mobile toilets, etc., and there are staff available to help at any time. The orderly but noisy scene has long become an annual phenomenon in Wimbledon.
The most beautiful scenery in Bourdain.
Perhaps, some people are curious, how did Wimbledon, which sticks to tradition, become the mecca of tennis?
The long queue to buy tickets is just the tip of the iceberg.
Fans who come to buy tickets on site are like attending a rock concert. They come to Wimbledon for a special pilgrimage. It is a kind of ceremony, a kind of party, and a kind of carnival. It is precisely because of personal experience that they can feel the meaning of the event more deeply.
Enthusiasm and passion.
In the Internet age, while life is convenient, everything/resources are so easy to obtain that people do not feel the weight of the "process". They can complete the purchase of tickets by clicking on the screen or go to the site in person and queue for twenty hours to complete the purchase.
Tickets, the experience is completely different.
Wimbledon's retro has once again made people feel the weight of life. Those tedious, complex and even rigid traditions are spread throughout every corner of the event, showing the charm of tennis and participating in major events bit by bit.