Wimbledon Eyes Indian Market: Leveraging Cricket Ties to Ace Expansion Strategy

New Delhi: The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), organizers of the prestigious Wimbledon Championships, are strategically expanding their reach, with a keen focus on the Indian market. Familiar faces like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, and Sachin Tendulkar have been spotted at the iconic venue, signaling a growing connection between cricket and tennis.

Rohit Sharma's image on Wimbledon's Instagram account generated a record-breaking 4.5 million likes, demonstrating the immense potential of the Indian audience. AELTC Chief Executive Sally Bolton has identified India and the US as key markets for further growth.

Brendan Dinen, Head of Marketing at Wimbledon, explained to TimesofIndia.com, "Cricket is much loved and certainly king for Indian audiences. So rather than trying to compete with that, I think it's about trying to find interesting ways to collaborate. Both sports are rich in heritage... So I think there's interesting ways to be able to bring that to life for audiences, so that they might want to come and watch it as well."

Wimbledon is actively seeking collaborations with the cricket world to capture the attention of Indian sports fans. For example, they partnered with an Indian social media influencer, offering them a "day of a lifetime" experience, including a visit to Lord's Cricket Ground during a Test match followed by an afternoon at the Championships. They also collaborated with Star Sports, their broadcast partner, to create a tennis-cricket crossover trailer that aired during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Despite its prestige, Wimbledon recognizes the need for expansion, especially among younger demographics. Dinen emphasized the importance of engaging younger audiences through targeted content on platforms like Instagram and YouTube, and by collaborating with influencers. He states that, "India is a sport loving country. Obviously, cricket is king, but Wimbledon is also a broad mainstream event. So there's certainly an opportunity to engage wider audiences, not just younger audiences, but those are really integral and important to our plans."

Organizers are also exploring options to host events in India. While the monsoon season poses a challenge, AELTC is partnering with PVR INOX to broadcast the finals in theaters. They also extend invitations to Indian cricket stars like Kohli, Tendulkar, and Rohit to the Royal Box, leveraging their massive social media presence to generate buzz.

Wimbledon is embracing technology to enhance the fan experience. They are utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) on their app and website, in coordination with IBM, offering features like "Match Chat" which answers fans' questions in real-time, providing immediate responses and match analysis.

Dinen concluded, "We continue to embrace technology, and it sits at the heart of the balance between heritage and innovation... So we absolutely want to make sure we bring the brand and the Championships to life in new and interesting ways."