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The 133rd edition of the oldest tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon, is just around the corner; it begins in less than two weeks' time. Started in 1877, The Championships, Wimbledon (or simply known as ‘Wimbledon’) is one of the four tennis Grand Slams and is the only one to be played on grass.
Wimbledon is organized by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon, London in the months of June and July. The mega tennis event is contested by top tennis players from around the world in five main, four junior and seven invitation events on grass courts.
However, it is not just the grass courts and compulsory white attire for the players (with only 10 cm x 10 cm permissible branding space) that make it unique. The sponsorship policies of the prestigious tennis tournament are even more distinctive.
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Wimbledon is a non-profit organization and all the profits earned through the organization of the tournament are transferred to the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association of Great Britain) for the promotion and development of the sport throughout the country. The funds for the major development projects including the £100 million center court retractable roof installation are accumulated through debentures.
As a sports brand, it is a perfect instance of amalgamation of high-quality modern sport and enduring tradition. Since the beginning, it has stood for originality, class, etiquette and non-commercially driven image. As a result of this, the sponsors of Wimbledon are referred to as suppliers.
On one hand, the official suppliers, which are blue-chip brands, supply their products and services (along with a sum of negotiated fee) required for the successful organization of the mega event. On the other hand, Wimbledon provides them appropriate representation on and off the courts, making sure that the grounds are not commercialized overtly.
Wimbledon received a net sum of $47 million from its suppliers in the year 2017. As of today, there are 14 official suppliers of Wimbledon.
One of the most fascinating facts about the suppliers of Wimbledon is the longevity of their associations. Slazenger, the official ball supplier of Wimbledon, has been the same for more than 116 years. Other examples of long-term commitments are Robinsons, Rolex, IBM and Lanson, with their association with Wimbledon lasting for the past 83 years, 40 years, 28 years and 17 years respectively.
Despite competition from other massive brands, Wimbledon prefers to retain its earlier associations. That reinforces the fact that the AELTC gives priority to tradition, heritage, legacy and loyalty over the mere cut-throat competition in commercializing. In return, the suppliers keep renewing their deals with Wimbledon due to its global reach, simplicity and exclusivity.
So unlike any other sports event, Wimbledon always has command over the supplier deals rather than sponsors directing the sports organization what to do.
However, in recent years, in order to maintain a balance between commercialization due to suppliers’ fee and originality of the tournament, Wimbledon has relaxed its standards on the exclusivity of suppliers. Although this might have caused a reduction in the sponsorship fee, it enabled Wimbledon to get more than one supplier in a similar product category.
For example, in beverages and drinks, Wimbledon currently has Robinsons (still soft drink), Lanson (Champagne), Evian (water), Lavazza (coffee), Stella Artois (Beer) and Pimm's (Partner) as its official suppliers.
Examples of some of Wimbledon's deals with individual suppliers
Rolex
The partnership of 40+ years between Rolex and Wimbledon is a prime example of image similarity build on the pursuit of perfection. Wimbledon's quest for excellence and endeavor of the highest order is perfectly complemented with Rolex's mission of achieving precision, performance and the unfaltering pursuit of perfection.
One of the most expensive watch brands in the world, Rolex's target market consists of rich, influential and powerful people and athletes around the world. Its target market is in total synergy with the people visiting Wimbledon.
Rolex is omnipresent on the Wimbledon scoreboards and clocks around the venue. As a result of the agreement, it also owns the rights to produce and sell a range of Wimbledon series watches.
Rolex features in various official video series of Wimbledon like ‘The Spirit of Wimbledon’. Moreover, its association with eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has further cemented the association with Wimbledon.
Robinsons
The association between Robinsons and Wimbledon goes back to the days when Robinsons used to prepare hydrating drinks for the players in the changing rooms in 1935. More than 83 years since then, Wimbledon is now the most followed tennis Grand Slam in the world and Robinsons is the top and most trusted soft drink brand in Great Britain.
Currently as per the official still soft drink agreement, Robinsons organize a campaign around the Wimbledon tag name along with an online treasure hunt that allows kids and parents to play along. In the past, Robinsons also tried to increase their sales by introducing a limited edition drink with special Wimbledon packaging sold around the time of the actual event.
Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover is a relatively new supplier, having been added in the year 2015. As the official car of Wimbledon, JLR holds exclusive rights for all the cars to be used during the tournament for the hospitality of players and other guests.
IBM
The contribution of IBM for keeping Wimbledon up to date with the improving technology can't be neglected. Digitally, Wimbledon was visited by 18 million unique devices 69.9 million times in 2017. In the same year, it had page views of 436 million, and 1.3 million people downloaded the official Wimbledon app.
Among IBM's various forms of digital support to Wimbledon, its Interactive Technology is the most advanced one. All the courts have artificial intelligence (AI) cameras which don't need a cameraman to operate. These AI cameras feed information to the IBM Interactive technology which updates the game score, serve speed, winners count, double faults count, set score, etc instantaneously without any human intervention throughout the world in just 4 seconds.
On top of that, this technology also creates 5-7 minutes of video highlights of every match covering the major events and points, automatically using the intensity of noise and sound of the crowd in less than a couple of minutes. These video highlights are then uploaded to all digital platforms on their own.
This development not only enables the fans to receive personalized information but it also analyses every tweet regarding Wimbledon worldwide to understand how the fans are feeling.
On one hand, the IBM Technology reduces human resources required while on the other hand, it speeds up the processes related to technology at the historic tournament. In return, Wimbledon provides IBM representation on the scoreboards and service speed screens, as well as access to all data and a license to utilize the data for the testing and development of the interactive technology.
Despite its global recognition, Wimbledon has been successful in keeping its image of non-commercial and pure tennis intact. It is because of this unique image of Wimbledon that it is arguably the most prestigious tennis tournament in the world.
The tournament takes immense consideration of its image when it comes to sealing deals with the suppliers, which are more of a 'give and take' kind rather than just a marketing strategy. The suppliers in return not only enjoy the exclusivity of being associated with the mega tennis event but also a worldwide reach to tennis enthusiasts through television, website, social media and the official Wimbledon app.
Considering the extent of Wimbledon's penetration around the globe, that has to be a fantastic deal for its suppliers.
