New Delhi:
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and Sachin Tendulkar have been regular figures in the All Club Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which organize the Wimbledon Championship. Kohli and Tendulkar were sitting next to each other in 2015. ‘Master Blaster’ Tendulkar interacted with Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer last year. Rohit Sharma’s photo on Wimbledon’s Instagram produced 4.5 million likes – his busiest post ever!The presence of Indian cricketers in SW19 is part of the attempt of the prestigious tournament to expand its presence. According to AALTC CEO Sally Bolton, India and America are two markets that they are targeting to pursue the historic brand.“Cricket loves the Indian audience very much and is definitely the king. So instead of trying to compete with it, I think it is trying to find interesting ways to cooperate. Both sports are rich in inheritance. England and India Test matches are now happening. So I feel that it is interesting for the audience to be able to get ready to come to life. Timesofindia.com.Go beyond the border with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!“So we are working with an Indian social media affected, who will get a lifetime day. They will be taken to Lord’s during the Test match on 10 July. And then we will bring them to the championship ground in the afternoon and for our audience to bring life for life, it is a day for any sports fan.
“Similarly, we actually worked closely with our broadcasting partner, Star Sports, who created a tennis-cricket crossover trailer for us, which ran in the IPL. So I think there are many ways to be able to cooperate as sports qualities, and bring to the audience.”Wimbledon, despite being one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments, accepts that still has the ability to improve and grow up. The Grass Court Major had 60-70 million engagement from the broadcast to social media last year. With more than one billion potentially interested in the championship, the scope of development is very large, with a significant “headroom” being identified in India and its youth population.
Spain’s Carlos Alakraj serves during a practice session before the Championship Wimbledon 2025 at the England Lawn Tennis and Crocket Club (Photo by Clive Brankil/Getty Image)
“Young audiences and future audiences are important to us. It is clear in the activity that we focus on and our content strategy, whether it is for Instagram, YouTube and the kind of material we make,” Dinon clarified.“So ensure that we can be the contents of the championship with tennis in the center of that approach and in different parts – whether it is through social media platforms or working with the affected and the creators – to be able to attach those audiences to be able to attach those.“India is a sports loving country. Obviously, the cricket is king, but Wimbledon is also a wide mainstream phenomenon. So there is definitely an opportunity to attach a wider audience, not only young audiences, but they are really integral and important for our plans.”
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To make a deep connection with the Indian audience, the organizers want to organize programs in India, but the monsoon season does not help. To ignore this, AELTC PVRs are working with PVR Inox to take the finals in large screen theaters. Another attempt to grab the headlines and exploit social media presence of some Indian cricket veterans such as Kohli (274 million followers), Tendulkar (50.8 million), Rohit (44.1 million) comes to invite them to the royal box that is full of celebrities and royalty. So far, there is no concrete plan as the Indian cricket team tour England for five matches-Tendulkar Trophy, but it can change very quickly.As Wimbledon follows many of its traditions – all white, strawberries and creams, pim – it tries to embrace technology in the new era where it can. After 147 years, with the historical step of the trench line judges, its social media team is applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) on its app and website in coordination with IBM.
During the live matches, ‘Match Chat’ can answer questions from assistant fans. This will allow the audience to attach pre-written signals or using their own questions. The AI tool will provide immediate reactions and match analysis. “We continue to embrace technology, and it sits in the heart of balance between heritage and innovation. And in terms of things like virtual reality, we work on areas such as gaming. We have brought experiences for life in places like Robox. So we want to ensure that we bring brand and championships in new and interesting ways.”
