IBM launches artificial-intelligence-driven tools to expand the sport’s audience, but AI’s influence also reaches on-court business.
In 2024, the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts the Wimbledon Grand Slam Tournament, had a revenue of over PS400m. The US Tennis Association, whose US Open tournament was the major contributor, generated a similar sum in the same period.
In order to increase revenue from sponsorship, ticket sales, merchandise sales, and other sources, the industry needs to attract more spectators, and increase interaction with existing fans.
Off court growth
In order to achieve this, off court, the tennis industry is utilizing the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, while on the court, players and coaches use the same technologies for training and tactics.
AI has a big role to play in growing tennis, said
Judy Murrayis a tennis coach, mother of Wimbledon, US Open, and Olympic singles champion Andy Murray, and two-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion Jamie Murray.
Murray spoke at an IBM event, celebrating its 36th year of being a technology partner of AELTC. She discussed the role technology, including AI, plays in attracting current and future generations tennis players and fans. Kevin Farrar from IBM UK, the head of sport partnerships shared statistics on how digital technology is used to engage with sporting events, and what he called “snackable” content.
According to him, 70% of sports fans watch events on social media at home and 44% do so at the event. He said that 66% of sports consumption is attributed to a “core” group of 20% of fans.
Snackable content, which is constantly evolving, is something that younger fans are very interested in. Farrar added that our challenge is to meet this demand each year, and to ensure that we give them the best experience possible, whether it’s on-site or from home.
Judy Murray also agreed that it’s important to engage with those who grew-up with technology and understand how they get news and information, and how they view sport.
According to her, young people consume tennis in a way different from previous generations. They use digital services such as a dedicated mobile app and personalised data.
I see it in all the young people I’ve met through the sporting world. It’s what I call ‘bite size chunks’, she added. “It is the highlight reels and the shot of day, the celebrity watches, and the kids and behind the scenes content.” I think it is about creating the magic and atmosphere of Wimbledon through the app to a diverse global audience.
Add-ons for social media
IBM announced two AI-generated spectator tools at the event in the shadow of Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
One of the new features for the Wimbledon tournament this year is an interactive AI assistant. It can answer questions during a match and provide analysis using
generative AIMatch Chat is built with IBM Watsonx AI technologies. It includes a collection AI agents and large-language models (LLMs), which are trained in Wimbledon editorial style and tennis terminology.
A new enhanced version of the Likelihood to Win Tool is being introduced to give fans a projection on which player is likely to win.
In 2024, the global audience of Wimbledon was 670 million. Clements said that the audience was not only diverse in terms or location, but also in the way they consumed media. He said that the challenge for AELTC was to “show up in the places where people spend their leisure time”. Clements said that there were 13 billion engagements with Wimbledon worldwide last year, which is about 20 per person AELTC has engaged.
AELTC statistics show that last year it produced more than 5,200 pieces, grew its social platform audience by 63%, and delivered 1.6 Billion video views.
It is important to us to generate that kind of deeper involvement, which leads people to take up the sport and engage with it repeatedly.
On court success
The usage of AI and other digital devices goes beyond growing the sport and brands of the different tournaments and into the daily training and preparation of players themselves.
Judy Murray is a long-time tennis coach who spoke about the role technology, like AI, plays in preparing players to compete at tournaments and for individual matches. She joked, “You need people today who know how to turn on a computer.” She said that today’s top athletes have data analysts in their teams along with fitness coaches and video analyst. “I think that the old guard, who would have worked the old school way, had to adapt or hire someone to help them analyse the data.”
Murray recalled her early coaching days, when everything was done on paper and a pencil. “You would draw your court diagram using your stick man, and make your own markings and notations, but it has evolved over time.”
Today, data is available for coaches, which allows them to create training plans and match strategies, as well as analyse technique by watching slow-motion videos.
Murray recalled analysing competitors’ style at a US Junior event one year. She used a video hanging from the back court to film an opposing player her players may have to face. “We took the footage back, put on the computer, then edited it to a small package junior players could understand.”
She added that today “you can access it not only before and after a match, but also in real time”.
She said that the player boxes are equipped with iPads, which show what is happening during a game. Coaches will need to be able to interpret this data quickly and act accordingly.
Karl Flinders are the people behind the GenAI technology that powers new Wimbledon features.
