Like many of us, Marcos Ortega enters the Wimbledon public ticket ballot every year in the hope of seeing some championship tennis. In seven straight years of trying, however, he has never got lucky. So he was delighted – initially, at least – to learn there was a way to secure a ticket for every game played on Centre Court.

But Ortega’s hopeful delight quickly turned to anger when he discovered that it would cost him £293,000.

“I’ve played tennis all my life and I’d really love to go to Wimbledon. It’s the premier tennis competition in the world,” he said. “But I’ve never got any in the ballot, and the queue is ridiculous. Now, I learn that if you’re rich enough there is a way to pay your way in. It doesn’t seem fair.”

Ortega, 39, an architect from Spain who lives in Manor House, north London, had discovered the little-known world of Wimbledon debentures – special season tickets snapped up by members of the global super-rich elite.

There are 2,520 Centre Court debentures, which guarantee a seat for each of the 14 days of the tournament for not one but five years. The All England Lawn Tennis Club, the private members organisation that has run the Wimbledon championship since 1868, last sold the debentures in 2024, for £116,000 each, raising £292m to help fund a major development.

The owners of debentures, which are classed as financial instruments like shares and bonds, can resell their whole allocation every Thursday at 11am. This week, someone sold two debenture tickets for £586,000.

Despite spending all that money, the unknown buyer will not be able to go to the next two weeks’ matches because the rights to this year’s tournament were fixed in May. The buyer will, however, be able to go to every Centre Court match from next year until 2030.

If that’s too much tennis to enjoy, they can sell some or all of the tickets on a day-by-day basis for profit without any restrictions. Last year the government brought in a law banning the resale of tickets for live sporting events above their face value, but Wimbledon debentures are exempt. Debenture tickets for this year’s men’s final are available on secondary ticketing websites for £29,079 each.

“Wimbledon promotes itself as the most democratic and diverse tournament,” Ortega said while warming up for a friendly match with his girlfriend on public courts in Clissold Park, north London. “But this shows it is really about making the most money possible.”

A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “We are aware that tickets are being advertised at high prices but we don’t have visibility of the price they actually trade at. Debenture holders are free to sell their tickets at any price with no commission to us. We want to ensure that as many people as possible have the opportunity to experience Wimbledon. This underpins our approach to the Wimbledon public ballot and ticket prices for the championships.”

The 2,520 debentures account for 16.7% of Centre Court’s 14,979 seats. The All England Club reserves a further 1,340 seats for corporate hospitality. Invited guests, including the media, schools and overseas tennis associations, occupy 21% of the seats, leaving 53.5% for the public. There are an additional 1,250 debenture seats on No 1 Court.

Tim Webb, who oversees the resale of the debentures via his company Dowgate Capital, said interest in the special tickets had surged in the last 18 months. Asked who the buyers were, he said: “Due to the pure nature of the price, they’re high net worth individuals who are interested in tennis, and there are some corporate hospitality companies.

“There are private equity people, [and] individuals who are realising large cash gains from selling companies. We run checks on them, so we know who they are. There has been a lot of overseas interest, with people from India, Dubai and across Europe.”

He said the £293,000 paid per debenture this week was not the highest price achieved. The record was set at £325,000 earlier this year, before the May cutoff for this year’s tournament.

Wimbledon introduced debentures in 1920 and some families have held them ever since. Debenture holders have access to the private champions’ room with direct views of the outside courts and assistance from dedicated “debenture hosts”.

They also have a special entrance to the court and the choice of seven exclusive bars and restaurants. These include the Courtside restaurant, which has “views over courts 16 and 17, with its signature menus designed by celebrity chefs”. Albert Roux and Bryn Williams have previously been chefs in residence.

The Lawn Tennis Association, the national governing body, which says its mission is to make the sport “available and accessible to all”, did not respond to requests for comment.