Sally Bolton keeps the Monday after Wimbledon concludes each year completely free in her diary. It’s a chance to breathe after weeks of preparation and a fortnight of glad-handing, weather-watching and, just occasionally, a spot of fire-fighting. This year, though, will feel a little different for the CEO of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. In May, Bolton announced she’ll step down from the role she’s held since 2020 at the conclusion of the 2026 Championships.
As the host of an ever-so-English garden party, Bolton has proved an astute and capable leader. Wimbledon is simultaneously a global broadcast event, magnet for royalty and celebrity, and, year-round, a thriving and prestigious private members club, all nestled inside some of the most immaculate real estate in world sport.
She was appointed at the height of the pandemic. Wimbledon was the only Grand Slam canceled in 2020. The Championships had insurance cover that year, but Bolton and her team were instantly tasked with finding a way to make sure the 2021 Championships, which did not have the same cover, happened. “I think [I’m] programmed to forget how bad it was,” Bolton told me when we sat for an extended conversation about Wimbledon and her leadership a couple of years ago, “but certainly the most stressful period, the most significant period. We had to be incredibly adaptable and agile.”
There have been other noteworthy moments:
- Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players from the 2022 tournament, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was a ruling contested inside and outside the sport.
- The All England Club’s expansion plan, and the various legal challenges around securing the required land, has been an ongoing project.
- Navigating the byzantine politics of global tennis, notably forging closer working relationships with the other Slams, has occupied a good portion of her time.
“Without sounding arrogant at all, we’ve always seen ourselves as something of a guardian of the sport,” Bolton reflected. “With the history and heritage we have, and the time we’ve been in the sport and what we stand for, we’ve always tried to do the right thing for the sport — and we still see ourselves in that role.”
Bolton’s impending departure is the latest in a chain of changes in global tennis leadership. Three of the four Grand Slams will have new leadership in the coming months. The in-demand Craig Tiley, architect of much of the Australian Open’s recent success, is moving to New York to take the helm at the U.S. Open. His replacement at Tennis Australia will be Andrew Abdo, who has spent the last five years as CEO of Australia’s National Rugby League.
Outside the Slams, Ross Hutchins is just months into his new role as CEO of the International Tennis Federation, shortly to be renamed World Tennis. Eno Polo has been in post as CEO of the ATP Tour since September. And Portia Archer abruptly left her position as CEO at the WTA in April, leaving Chair Valerie Camillo and Marina Storti, who heads up the tour’s commercial arm, WTA Ventures, to lead the line.
All this is happening against a backdrop of a disgruntled group of players who want a more appropriate share of Grand Slam revenue, a controversial players union fighting an antitrust lawsuit against tennis authorities all over the world, and the ongoing, piecemeal process of merging the ATP and WTA. Change is afoot with a new generation of leaders, but the pace is, so far at least, glacial.
Wimbledon’s next CEO will have an influential seat at the stakeholder table as the discussions continue. It is one of the plum jobs in British — if not world — sport. Among the most pressing local matters will be bringing the long-anticipated expansion to life. There’s also the delicate matter of a new domestic broadcast contract. Wimbledon and the publicly funded BBC have been in business together since 1927, when the first radio broadcast of the tournament was heard, with the first TV coverage following a decade later. The latest contract is up in 2027, and the incoming CEO will be pivotal in determining how a new deal is constructed, given the BBC’s financial limitations and Wimbledon’s desire for measured innovation in how the tournament is broadcast.
When I asked Bolton to consider the longer-term challenges her successor might one day face, she paused. “So much of this role is about careful management and curation of our reputation — maybe you would call it brand — treading that fine line, looking after what is such a long evolved and grown thing, but such a precious thing. That has become much more front and centre for me, and I think in my successor, that will continue to be the case.”
“We’re operating in a much more complicated world than we ever did before,” she added. ”We are proudly on a global stage, but that brings with it the challenges of being on a global stage. And we need to continue to build our audiences globally. We need to attract more people to come to the Championships and watch the Championships, so I think people with experience of that space are important.
“Part of being the chief executive here is recognizing and understanding that it’s not about having the best ideas to succeed; it’s about taking people with you and being able to sell that vision to the members of the club as much as it is to the rest of the world. That is a particular skill set.”
David Cushnan is content director at Leaders in Sport in London. Alongside James Emmett, he writes the weekly Worth Knowing newsletter on the global business of sport. Sign up here: leadersinsport.com/newsletters.
