Download PDF
IBM > Case Studies > Wimbledon 2015: Creating a unique digital experience to capture the moments that matter
IBM Logo

Wimbledon 2015: Creating a unique digital experience to capture the moments that matter

Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
  • Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Functions
  • Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
  • Cybersecurity
  • Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • Cybersecurity Services
  • Data Science Services
The Challenge
Wimbledon, organized by the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), is one of the world's highest-profile sporting events. To maintain its prestige, its digital experience must be second to none. The AELTC set a target of attracting 70 million visits, 20 million unique devices, and 8 million social followers during the two weeks of The Championships 2015. The challenge was to update the digital properties to adapt to a mobile-first world, while still offering the best possible desktop experience. The team also needed to build a special set of websites for the most important tennis fans of all: the players themselves.
About The Customer
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) is the organizer of The Championships, Wimbledon, the oldest of tennis' four Grand Slams, and one of the world's highest-profile sporting events. The AELTC has been a global sporting and cultural institution since 1877. The AELTC's objective is to host the best tennis Championships in the world – in every way, and by every metric. This commitment is motivated by both pride and commercial basis. Wimbledon’s brand is built on its premier status: this is what attracts both fans and partners. The world’s best media organizations and greatest corporations – IBM included – want to be associated with Wimbledon precisely because of its reputation for excellence.
The Solution
IBM and the AELTC embarked on a complete redesign of the digital platform, using their intimate knowledge of The Championships’ audience to develop an experience tailor-made to attract and retain tennis fans from across the globe. The team built a secure web application that provided players with a personalized view of their court bookings, transport, and on-court times, as well as helping them review their performance with access to stats on every match they played. The team took advantage of a unique advantage: its access to real-time, shot-by-shot data on every match played during The Championships. Over the course of the Wimbledon fortnight, 48 court-side experts capture approximately 3.4 million data-points, tracking the type of shot, the strategies and the outcome of each and every point. This data is collected and analyzed in real time to produce statistics for TV commentators and journalists – and also for the digital platform’s own editorial team.
Operational Impact
  • The success of the new digital platform for 2015 – supported by IBM cloud, analytics, mobile, social and security technologies – was immediate and complete.
  • The digital platform was able to attract a larger audience than ever before and keep those viewers engaged throughout The Championships.
  • The digital platform was hosted by IBM in its Hybrid Cloud, which used sophisticated modeling techniques to predict peaks in demand based on the schedule, the popularity of each player, the time of day, and many other factors – enabling it to dynamically allocate cloud resources appropriately to each piece of digital content, and ensure a seamless experience for millions of visitors around the world.
Quantitative Benefit
  • 71 million visits to the digital platform, a 13 percent year-on-year increase
  • 21.1 million unique devices connected to the platform, a 23 percent increase
  • 125% increase in the number of unique mobile visitors

Related Case Studies.

Contact us

Let's talk!

* Required
* Required
* Required
* Invalid email address
By submitting this form, you agree that IoT ONE may contact you with insights and marketing messaging.
No thanks, I don't want to receive any marketing emails from IoT ONE.
Submit

Thank you for your message!
We will contact you soon.