Wimbledon’s First Ever Asian Partnership Expected To Attract Younger Audiences

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the home of the Wimbledon Championship, has announced Chinese smartphone brand OPPO as the first Official Smartphone Partner and first-ever Asian partner of the tournament.

This deal will be OPPO’s first foray into tennis, having already secured partnerships with FC Barcelona and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The five-year agreement, which starts at this year’s event in July, demonstrates the mutual opportunity presented when two brands come together to grow their presence in key developing markets.

OPPO will use the strength of the Wimbledon brand to grow its presence across the UK and Europe, a vital step in executing its globalisation strategy, ‘Glocal’, while the AELTC will benefit from OPPO’s considerable brand strength to grow the reach of Wimbledon in OPPO’s key markets, particularly China.

The deal sees Oppo products go on display throughout the tournament with the Chinese tech company also preparing to play a significant role in support of the professional grass court season and the promotion of the AELTC’s grass court strategy, which aims to provide enhanced opportunities for juniors to compete on grass courts at all stages of their development, with the ultimate aim of becoming a Wimbledon champion.

Brian Shen, Vice President, OPPO, said: “We are thrilled to announce we are the first Asian partner of The Championships, Wimbledon.

“The Championships have a strong synergy with our brand values of prioritising innovation and design in our products.

“We are confident this partnership will further strengthen our expansion plans across the European marketplace and in turn our communication globally.”

Mick Desmond, Commercial & Media Director, AELTC, added: “We are delighted to welcome OPPO to the family of Official Suppliers to The Championships, and we very much look forward to seeing the OPPO smartphones bring Wimbledon’s iconic beauty to life for our audiences around the world.

“OPPO will play a vital role in helping to grow the reach of the Wimbledon brand in Asia, particularly in China, and we are proud to be able to play a similar role in supporting OPPO’s ambitions across the UK and Europe.”

The launch of the partnership was marked by a ceremonial signing between Brian Shen, Vice President for OPPO, Tim Henman, AELTC Committee Member, and Mick Desmond, Commercial & Media Director, AELTC at the All England Club.