Indian ice cream at the tennis courts: Why Wimbledon is courting India

Wimbledon, the world's most prestigious tennis tournament, is making a concerted push into the Indian market, rolling out a localization strategy tailored to Indian culture in a bid to grow its fan base there.

According to the BBC, Wimbledon this year partnered with Kuremal Kulfi, a traditional kulfi brand from Delhi, to reinterpret its signature "strawberries and cream" as kulfi — the classic Indian frozen dessert — and began selling it at the tournament.

Wimbledon's official Instagram account has posted videos of match highlights featuring stars such as Roger Federer set to popular Bollywood music from the 1990s, and the club has invited prominent cricket players and Indian influencers to the Royal Box. Beyond food, the tournament has localized its marketing across the board, producing digital content in Hindi and other Indian languages.

The strategy has translated into viewership gains. The men's singles final on July 12 between Jannik Sinner (world No. 1, Italy) and Alexander Zverev (world No. 3, Germany) drew about 2.7 million online viewers in India, even though the match ran past midnight local time.

The BBC said India is already Wimbledon's largest overseas market, and that local interest surged further this year after Arnav Paparkar became the first Indian player in 36 years to reach the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon boys' singles draw.

Indian streaming platform JioStar is also using its Wimbledon coverage to broaden its audience beyond cricket-heavy content and attract new viewers.

Sports branding expert Darshana Bala said tennis gives JioStar "a way to extend its year-round viewer touchpoints, attract affluent urban consumers, and expand its advertiser base beyond cricket." She added that Wimbledon draws "the affluent, English-speaking urban consumer that cricket struggles to deliver — exactly the customer base that luxury goods, automotive, banking, fintech, travel and premium consumer brand advertisers actively want."

India is emerging as the next major growth market for the global sports industry. KPMG has projected that India's sports sector will grow at an average annual rate of 12 to 14 percent through 2030.

Bala called Wimbledon's India push a deliberate strategic choice, not a coincidence, saying the tournament "has read the broader shift in global marketing." She noted that over the past decade India has begun producing young players competing on the ATP and ITF circuits, and that the urban population consuming premium sports beyond cricket is growing rapidly.

Bala said major global sports events are watching Wimbledon's experiment closely, predicting that if India-tailored marketing proves it can grow a fan base, Formula 1, the NBA, the NFL, UFC, La Liga and the English Premier League will all double down on India-first content strategies.

However, analysts say tennis will need to consistently deepen its engagement with fans beyond Wimbledon if it is to take root in India as a mainstream sport rather than a passing trend. Aryan Anurag, co-founder of New Delhi-based social media agency BingeLabs, said that "if it remains a one-off marketing exercise, the impact won't last long," adding that converting fleeting curiosity into genuine fandom requires sustained support for tennis and continued investment in the Indian market.