Wimbledon "revealed it is experimenting with technologies to further connect with fans, including Snapchat and iBeacons," and is preparing to welcome Watson, IBM's artificial intelligence engine, to the tournament, according to Jennifer Faull of THE DRUM. However, Wimbledon Head of Digital & Content Alexandra Willis "revealed that spectators will be strongly discouraged from using apps such as Periscope." Willis said that Wimbledon’s content team "will test Periscope, but questioned if it would be appropriate for spectators to do the same." She said, "If someone is holding up a tablet and blocking someone else from watching the action that’s not the right behavior for Wimbledon. It’s something we have to keep an eye on." Faull noted it remains a condition of entry to the courts that mobile phones are not used. Willis said that Wimbledon officials will be "keeping watch for people live streaming" (THEDRUM.com, 6/18).
THE SOCIAL SLAM: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Daniel Kaplan reports Wimbledon is the "runaway tennis leader" on social media, "with more than 6 million followers across seven platforms." Of the seven measured platforms -- Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest and Vine -- Wimbledon "ranks second" among tennis' four Grand Slam tournaments "in only one, slightly trailing the Australian Open in its number of YouTube channel subscribers." Wimbledon in every other category is "No. 1 -- in some cases, by significant margins" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/22 issue). ADWEEK's David Cohen cites Adobe Digital Index data as showing that heading into Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic has the "most social clout" among male players, while Serena Williams "took the women's title." The company calculated social value by "analyzing more than 5 million social mentions, Twitter follows, Facebook likes, Instagram followers, international reach of buzz, positive sentiment and total followers." ADI found that Djokovic has "more than 10 million fans and followers, and he also was the most-mentioned player in the past 30 days." As for Williams, she "has 8.7 million fans and followers and was the topic of the second-most social mentions." She also "had the most Instagram followers" (ADWEEK.com, 6/23).
