Disney Advertising Sales is serving up a group of sponsors for coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament on ESPN and ABC, including Barclays as presenting sponsor.
Disney said that Barclays is the first presenting sponsor for Wimbledon since 2017.
Barclays last year made a deal to become the official bank of the tournament, replacing HSBC, which had the title for 15 years.
A group of U.K. celebrities are calling for the Wimbledon tennis tournament to drop Barclays because of the bank’s support for the fossil fuel industry.
In an open letter to Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton, Richard Curtis, Emma Thompson and Deborah Meaden said Barclays is “financing and profiting from climate chaos, and accepting a sponsorship deal from them is an endorsement of these actions,” according to The Guardian.
As presenting sponsor on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, will have its on-site activations at the Wimbledon Grounds prominently featured in captured content. Barclays will also be the presenting sponsor of the Championship Preview Digital Live Show on social media.
Other featured sponsors during Wimbledon are IBM, Mass General Brigham and Rolex.
IBM, a long-term Wimbledon official partner, will power the IBM Match Insights, an AI-powered fact sheet that includes insights about each player, and the IBM Power Index Ranking enabling viewers to get up to speed quickly on the action.
Rolex continues its relationship with Wimbledon, again sponsoring the Game Duration feature. Mass General Brigham will bring fans detailed insights into their favorite players ahead of their matches through a Player Profiles feature. Both brands will have custom integrations and visibility throughout the slate of matches.
“At Disney, we reach audiences at a global level — and as the exclusive home for the Wimbledon 2023, fans are watching our beloved content from all over the world,” Disney Advertising VP, sports brand solutions Diedra Maddock said. “Through our best-in-class offerings and unmatched scalability, brands and advertisers are able to connect with fans in unique and creative ways that only Disney can provide.”
Disney points to research that shows how engaged brands and consumers are with Wimbledon on Disney networks. The Wimbledon 2022 coverage on ESPN networks reached nearly 31 million fans, up 31% from the previous year’s coverage. Additionally, ESPN’s digital tennis content reached an average of 1.9 million uniques per day, a 20%t increase from 2021.
Coverage of Wimbledon matches begins Monday on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Plus and are scheduled to run through July 16.
