THE SIDELINES : Wimbledon Posts Record Profit

The Wimbledon tennis tournament made a record profit of nearly $19 million this year despite a significant drop in attendance and expensive construction work.

The Lawn Tennis Assn. said today the profit was a 4.5% increase from the previous record, set last year.

Wimbledon officials had said earlier this year that they were expecting a drop in profits because safety regulations led to nearly 56,000 fewer spectators this summer than in 1989.

Attendance also was down this year because of competition from televised games of soccer’s World Cup, in which the English team reached the semifinals.

But Wimbledon chief executive Chris Gorringe said an increase in ticket prices and a lucrative satellite television contract helped account for the record profit in 1990.