Wimbledon - from it’s humble beginnings in 1877 , when some fuddy duddies played with wooden rackets and a few hundred viewers watched it - is today not just the biggest event in the British social calendar, but also a game with a attendance of Half a million and a TV viewer ship of 1 Billion worldwide. Phew!!!
There are gladiators from more than 60 nations who play in the circus called Wimbledon, but it’s not the game alone that has fascinated me. For a marketing person like me, it’s the brands behind the game that has fascinated me.
Interesting marketing facts about Wimbledon:
1) People Profile:
I recently came across a news clip that there was a internationally reputed research firm that did a survey on Wimbledon viewer ship said that 35% of the viewers of Wimbledon worldwide made more than $50, 000 annually.
2) Sponsorship:
The one week affair of Wimbledon earns $14 million from sponsorships alone.
3)TV rights:
NBC TV will pay $ 52 Million in annual rights fee for the next 4 years to Wimbledon.
4)Blue Chip Sponsors:
IBM and Rolex are the most prominent sponsors of the game. They dole out millions of dollars in sponsorship fees...
Oh!...oh! I forgot...the game is also important...but again its all about the Money! Honey!!! So here’s some stats on Wimbledon greens.
1)Total Prize:
The total prize money that is doled out at Wimbledon is approximately Rs.68.43 Crores !!! (£ 9, 373, 990). Attention all Indian tennis, Hockey and athletics officials...pl note the monies being pumped back into the game to popularize it, not being pumped into THE OFFICIALS POCKETS!!!
2)Take home Pay- Men:
The winning alpha male of Wimbledon will take home about 4.1 Crore rupees (£ 575, 000)
3)Take Home Pay- Women:
The winning lady will take home Rs.3.9 Crores (£ 535, 000). Now don’t start asking me why men have to earn more and women have to earn less. I don’t Know.
4)Doubles take home:
If Leander Paes or Mahesh Bhupati win the Wimbledon Men’s title they take home a cool Rs.1.54 Crores (£ 210, 000). Of course, you’ll have to share it with your partner. But that’s not bad either , I guess, when you get an all expenses paid trip to London along with it. Any which ways, both Paes and Bhupati are in Quarter Finals and win or lose they are assured of about £10, 000 earnings each till now.
All said and done, let’s find out what it costs to watch these masters of the tennis world play, live on centre court.
1)Gawking at Tiny Skirts:
Watching the game on the Final Day of Wimbledon, at Centre court would be approximately Rs. 5150/- (£ 75).
2)Sweat on your brow:
Remember those nice fluffy Wimbledon Towels that the players use on court. Well , you can also buy them, but they’ll cost you about Rs. 1700 (£25)!!! Phew...the sweat that breaks out better be worth every bit
3)A Tennis Bag:
Oh! in case you also want to pick a Racket bag just like the ones the players use. You’ll get them for about Rs.3000 (£ 40)
4)Great big green Balls!:
I don’t know how many of you have seen it...but I’m sure you’ve seen on TV , just like me... those giant tennis balls by Slazenger.. well those would be a good buy and a souvenir which you can bring back from London in your next trip. They come at Rs.1300 (£ 18).
Some interesting miscellaneous masala to make this a tasty review (Food for thought)
1)Strawberries:
Did you know that, every year more than 27, 000 kilos of strawberries are eaten at Wimbledon Tennis Championships along with about 7, 000 litres of cream.!!!
2)Breaking into cold sweat:
312, 000 bottles of water was consumed along with more than 14, 000 bottles of champagne at Wimbledon 2002.
3)It’s a knotty affair:
Mark Phillipousis scud serves and Serena’s Siren serves apart, more than 2000 rackets were re-stringed in 2002 wimbledon. This makes it almost 13 miles of racket string!!!
4)Giant Green balls
Oh! those Giant green balls , I was talking about earlier...well they apparently sold 4000 of them in 2002 along with 12000 towels and 5000 water bottles.
Note:
£1 = Rs.73 (That’s the rate I have taken for conversion)
1 Crore = 10, 000, 000
This review is not about the game...but about the games behind the big game curtains. I appreciate and enjoy the game as much as any other tennis fan and since Tennis is a much written about topic, I wanted to bring to light some interesting facts which people have not really checked out or maybe missed out.
But! remember..the game is also a great one. Don’t miss it out on TV. The finals is on Sunday.
Adios
Moonraker