IBM will continue to take the lead role developing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud for the Wimbledon tennis tournament in its role as digital transformation partner.
The long-standing relationship has seen IBM introduce rudimentary stats for the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) in the early 1990s, the first website for Wimbledon grand slams in 1995, and the initial use of AI in 2017.
Now, IBM’s Watson AI, sitting in IBM Cloud, is personalising content in a bid to encourage fans who try out digital platforms to do so again and again.
Usama Al-Qassab, commercial director of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, emphasised the importance of IBM’s AI technology: “As we look to attract the next generation of Wimbledon fans from around the world, the AI-powered capabilities of IBM will be key to ensuring our future digital experiences are relevant, personalised and engaging.”
To grow revenue through sponsorship, ticket and merchandise sales and more, the industry must attract more spectators and increase interactions with existing fans.
Speaking last year in the run up to the 2025 Wimbledon event, tennis coach Judy Murray, mother of British tennis star Andy Murray, said: “It’s all about engaging with those who grew up with technology, understanding how they get their news and information, and how they are viewing sport.”
She said young people are consuming tennis in a different way from previous generations, through digital services, such as a dedicated app and personalised information.
“I certainly see it with all the young people that I’ve come into contact with through the sporting world – it’s about what I always call ‘bite-size chunks’,” she added. “It’s the highlight reels, the shot of the day, the celebrity watch, and it’s the kids and behind-the-scenes content. I think it’s about creating the atmosphere and the magic of Wimbledon, through the app, to a hugely diverse global audience.”
Two digital initiatives at AELTC – Likelihood to Win and Match Chat – drove a 16% rise in fan engagement with the Wimbledon tournament in 2025.
Match Chat is built using IBM’s Watsonx AI technologies, including a collection of artificial intelligence agents and large language models (LLMs) trained on the Wimbledon editorial style and tennis jargon. The Likelihood to Win tool uses AI to offer fans a projection of which player is most likely to win, with probabilities dynamically updated throughout matches.
According to IBM, 20 million fans closely followed all the grass court action via the app and website last year, with the app seeing a 19% increase in engagement.
IBM commissioned Morning Consult to produce a global survey, which engaged more than 20,000 fans across 12 countries. The survey found that 86% of tennis fans worldwide see value in AI-powered features such as real-time insights and personalised highlights. More than half said they wanted AI-driven commentary and insights for all events, whether past, present or future. Around one in five tennis fans said they use apps tailored to the sport, with fans significantly more likely to reach for apps while attending a sports event.
