Wimbledon Eyes India's Cricket Fans in Strategic Expansion Plan

New Delhi: The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), organizers of the prestigious Wimbledon Championships, are strategically targeting the Indian market, leveraging the nation's deep-rooted passion for cricket. Familiar faces like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, and Sachin Tendulkar have frequented the iconic grounds, signaling a deliberate effort to bridge the gap between the two sports.

Rohit Sharma's photograph on Wimbledon's Instagram account garnered a record-breaking 4.5 million likes, highlighting the potential for crossover appeal. Sally Bolton, AELTC Chief Executive, has identified India, along with the US, as key markets for expanding the Wimbledon brand.

Brendan Dinen, Head of Marketing at Wimbledon, emphasized the collaborative approach in an interview with 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 exploring innovative strategies to engage Indian audiences. This includes:

• Collaborating with Indian social media influencers: Providing them with unique experiences, such as attending a Test match at Lord's followed by a visit to the Wimbledon Championships.
• Partnering with Star Sports: Creating a tennis-cricket crossover trailer that was broadcast during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
• Screening finals in theaters: AELTC are working with PVR INOX to take the finals to large screen theaters.

Despite its established prestige, Wimbledon recognizes the need for continuous growth. With 60-70 million engagements last year, the tournament aims to tap into the vast potential of India's large and youthful population.

"Younger audiences and audiences of the future are crucial to us," Dinen stated. "So ensuring that we can have the content and different parts of the Championships, with tennis at the centre of that approach... to be able to engage those audiences."

The AELTC also hopes to capitalize on the social media presence of Indian cricket icons like Kohli, Tendulkar, and Sharma by inviting them to the Royal Box.

Wimbledon is also embracing technology to enhance the fan experience. The tournament has introduced an AI-powered "Match Chat" assistant on its app and website, providing real-time answers to fans' questions and offering match analysis.

"We continue to embrace technology... And in terms of things like Virtual Reality, we work on areas such as gaming... So we absolutely want to make sure we bring the brand and the Championships to life in new and interesting ways," Dinen concluded.