Wimbledon organisers want famous cricketers to help them grow in cricket-mad India

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which organises the Wimbledon Championships, is turning to India and its cricket icons to grow the tournament’s global reach. With the 2025 edition of Wimbledon set to begin later this month, AELTC Chief Executive Sally Bolton confirmed that India, alongside the US, has become a primary focus for expanding the tournament’s audience.

To build deeper connections with Indian sports fans, the organisers are exploring options like hosting exhibition grass court matches in India that could feature well-known cricketers. “India is the one where [we see] such an enormous opportunity sitting there,” Bolton told the Financial Times. “We see the historical relationship between the UK and India and some of those cultural ties between the two nations as providing a foundation.”

The strategy comes as Wimbledon seeks to gain visibility in a cricket-dominated market. Last year, Indian cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma shared their Wimbledon visit with millions of followers on Instagram, creating major traction. Combined, they have a following of 95 million on the platform — far more than Wimbledon’s 6 million. Bolton described their presence as having “enormous cut-through”.

Wimbledon is currently aired in India on Star Sports and streamed on JioHotstar, the digital platform formed after a merger between Reliance’s media arm and Disney’s India business. The platform has 280 million subscribers, driven largely by its streaming of the Indian Premier League.

The AELTC hopes to use this digital distribution and cricket crossover appeal to strengthen viewer engagement and commercial returns. “If you’re continuing to grow your audience and the quality and depth of your engagement with the audience, everything else flows from that in terms of value in the brand, scale of your organisation, commercial opportunities,” Bolton said.

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India is now on the radar of several international sports bodies. The English Premier League opened an office in Mumbai in April. WWE is preparing to host a large-scale event in the country. Cricket’s addition to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is another sign of growing interest in Indian viewers. Adam Kelly, president of sports marketing firm IMG, told the Financial Times that although India’s sports space has traditionally been dominated by cricket, streaming has created new access points. “The middle class in India is as big as the populations of other major territories,” he said. “If you can engage that population to even a fraction of the degree to which they’re engaged in cricket, then you’ve got something really meaningful.” Beyond India, Wimbledon is investing in international audience growth and merchandise sales. A viewing event for the finals is being planned on New York’s East River, and overseas e-commerce sales of branded goods rose 15% last year. “It’s not just event merchandise. It’s not even just really retail. It’s that idea of a lifestyle brand and all the things that come with that,” Bolton added.

Wimbledon awarded a record £3 million in prize money to each singles winner this year. Despite smaller stadium capacity compared to other Grand Slams, AELTC plans to add an 8,000-seat arena and more grass courts. These expansion plans, however, are facing local resistance.

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