Wimbledon

General Background

Wimbledon is known as the most prestigious and oldest tennis tournament worldwide. It is held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, and has been held here since 1877. It is the only major tournament that is still played on grass.

The tournament’s duration lasts two weeks, from late June, up until early July and is the third annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar.

Wimbledon consists of five main events, five junior events and five invitation events.

These five major events, include

·      Gentlemen’s singles

·      Ladies’ Singles

·      Ladies’ Doubles

·      Gentlemen’s Doubles

·      Mixed Doubles

Media

The host broadcaster for Wimbledon is the BBC, this is also the UK rights holder, acting for over 40 other international networks, due to this is has become the largest annual broadcast operation across the globe.

Fees are paid by international broadcasters, these are

Currently Wimbledon has nine courts of live television coverage, and then seven after the first week, this is more than any of the other Grand Slams. Over 2,500 broadcasters work in the Broadcast Centre for the Wimbledon Championships.

• Wimbledon was televised for the first time in 1937, when the BBC from Centre Court for transmitted matches up to half an hour each day of the meeting.

• In 1967, Wimbledon provided the first ever colour broadcast in Britain. More than 80 broadcast organisations are on site.

• Approximately 2500 broadcasters work in the Broadcast Centre.

• Nine courts have live television coverage (seven after week one), more than any other Grand Slam.

• Host broadcaster BBC uses nearly 100 cameras around the grounds during The Championships.

• There are positions for 120 commentators on Centre Court alone.

(Wimbledon.com, 2015)

Sponsors

Wimbledon has always strove to retain the unique image and character of the Championships and has managed to do this successfully over the many years of it’s existence by developing long-term mutually beneficial Official Supplier agreements. These official suppliers provide goods and services, which are both important for the setting up and staging of The Championships.

Wimbledon’s current sponsors can be seen below; with the dates they started their long-term agreement.

·      Slazenger - Official Ball (1902)

·      Robinsons - Official Soft Drink (1935)

·      IBM - Official Information Technology (1990)

·      Hertz  - Official Transport Supplier (1995)

·      Lanson - Official Champagne (2001)

·      Ralph Lauren - Official Outfitter (2006)

·      HSBC - Official Bank (2007)

·      Evian - Official Water (2008)

·      Jacob's Creek - Official Wine (2011)

·      Lavazza - Official Coffee (2011)

·      Stella Artois - Official Beer (2014)

·      Jaguar Land Rover - Official Car (2015)

(Wimbledon.com, 2015)

Stadium

Wimbledon Centre Count is considered the world’s most famous tennis court situated in Wimbledon, London, UK. It incorporates the clubhouse of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

It’s capacity holds 15,000 people, and it is a grass court.

Wimbledon’s only regular use for play is during the two weeks a year that the Championships take place. The Centre Court also has a premier box for use by the British Royal Family, and other distinguished guests

Wimbledon had a retractable roof installed in 2009; this enables games to continue during rain and into the night up until 11pm.

(Bloomberg.com, 2014)

Web Sources

Bloomberg.com, (2014). Wimbledon Targets U.S. Market to Fund $168 Million Expansion. [online] Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-30/wimbledon-targets-us-market-to-fund-168-million-expansion-1 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2015].

Wimbledon.com, (2015). Official Suppliers. [online] Available at: http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/atoz/official_suppliers.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2015].

Wimbledon.com, (2015). TV coverage and schedules. [online] Available at: http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/atoz/tv_schedules.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2015].