Opinion: A Look At The UK Tennis Market

30-Love, 40-Like? A Look at Age and the UK Tennis Market by research agency SMG Insight reveals that, unlike many sports, tennis appeals across the age and gender divides, with tennis fans reflecting the UK general population unusually closely.

The research also finds that, contrary to expectations, fans of Queen’s tend to be older than those of Wimbledon, with the Aegon Championships particularly well-followed by older women.

Wimbledon has also been particularly successful in creating Buzz (a metric that creates a net measure of whether people have heard something positive or negative about an event) amongst younger audiences.

At its peak, the digital team at Wimbledon analysed 400 tweets per second to make real-time decisions about its content. Its IBM Watson-backed app harnesses 3.2m pieces of data, from serve speeds to backhand winners, for users to tailor. The report argues that innovations like this have helped to keep a young audience engaged in event which trades off its tradition and formality. These innovations helped Wimbledon win both Best Digital Platform of the Year and Best Use of Social Media at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2016.

The research also shows how age groups responded differently to last year’s Wimbledon and Queen’s sponsors, with younger fans showing more volatility in their consideration of tournament partners. Jaguar’s Wimbledon profile, for example, delivered a remarkable increase in consideration amongst 18 to 34-year-olds, but the brand was faced with a significant fall amongst 35-49-year-olds according to the SMG Insight figures.

Director Bruce Cook commented: “The art of sponsorship is finding great matches between properties and partners. A great partnership works for both partners. Likewise, a badly-matched pairing can be a hindrance both to rights-holders and to sponsors.

“What our report shows is that tennis is a great opportunity for sponsors to reach a real cross-section of the UK population. In particular, companies looking to target women with their brands should take note, Wimbledon and Queen’s are sports events which are almost uniquely well-placed to do that.

“Brands and tournament organisers also need to note how different age groups respond to different activities at different times. We know it’s a challenge to serve different audiences but this kind of insight can really help to get it right.”