1 Million New Fans in 2 Weeks
3 Min Read
1 Million New Fans in 2 Weeks
10 Moves That Made Wimbledon 2025 a Gen Z Masterclass
Tennis has a relevance problem.
Among 18–34-year-olds, interest in the sport dropped to just 10% in the UK. The average fan? Late 50s. Gen Z is not watching, not attending, and more than anything not engaged.
And tennis is not alone.
Cricket, rugby, baseball even basketball in some markets are facing the same friction.
Longer formats. Slower pacing. Static viewing. For a generation raised on scrolls, speed, and second screens, that simply does not hold.
So let us be honest:
Storytelling matters but some sports need to rethink the product itself.
Because it is not just about where attention goes it is about how it is earned.
That is what makes Wimbledon 2025 such a case study.
It did not rewrite the rules.
It reframed the experience.
And in just 14 days, it reignited cultural relevance without compromising tradition.
Here is how.
Wimbledon Went Viral. Gen Z Came Back and what your brand can do next?
10 Moves That Made Wimbledon 2025 a Gen Z Masterclass
1. Native or Nowhere
What They Did:
Unfiltered TikToks. Creator-style edits. Players dancing, joking, messing up. All built for the platform.
The Play:
Do not repurpose. Create natively. TikTok is not Instagram. Instagram is not broadcast. Speak the language or get ignored.
2. Less Perfect. More Human.
What Worked:
Gauff being goofy. Sabalenka behind the scenes. Djokovic playing dad. Not highlights heartbeats.
The Play:
Perfection does not connect. Personality does.
Let your athletes be people, not just performers.
3. Fashion Was the Trojan Horse
Breakout Moment:
The “Tenniscore” aesthetic exploded via creator Morgan Riddle’s reels blending sport with high style.
The Play:
Culture drives discovery. Use fashion, lifestyle, and vibe as entry points, not distractions.
4. Volume = Visibility
The Data:
Over 350 posts in 14 days. 200 million TikTok views double the year before.
The Play:
Do not bet on one hit. Win with velocity. Scale content when the moment is hot.
5. Nostalgia, Reframed
Surprise Hit:
A raw 1996 clip of a Steffi Graf fan hit 45 million views. Archival gold meets emotional storytelling.
The Play:
Your history is not old it is untapped IP. Package it for a generation that has never seen it.
6. Design the Venue for the Feed
Smart Move:
Selfie stations, branded backdrops, iconic photo ops all built to be shared.
The Play:
Your fans are your media engine. Design physical moments for digital scale.
7. Audience-First. Always.
Behind the Scenes:
Wimbledon built its content based on how Gen Z consumes: fast, raw, emotionally sticky.
The Play:
Do not ask “What should we say?”
Ask “What do they want to feel?” and build backwards.
8. Kill the Silos
How It Happened:
Social, marketing, PR, influencer partnerships all aligned, no bottlenecks.
The Play:
Virality is not a department. It is a mindset.
Operate like one team, not a flowchart.
9. React in Real Time
In Practice:
They monitored daily, leaned into what hit, and cut what did not.
The Play:
Build the feedback loop live. Real-time beats real smart, too late.
10. Stay You But Make It Viral
The Trick:
Wimbledon stayed Wimbledon: white kits, strawberries and cream but layered in meme formats and cultural energy.
The Play:
You do not need to change your DNA.
Just change the frame.
Translate This into Action
| Wimbledon Move | Your Play |
| TikTok-first storytelling | Hire Gen Z-native creators, not content generalists |
| Real athlete moments | Launch “Day in the Life” mini-series |
| Lifestyle as a lever | Partner with fashion and culture influencers |
| Speed and scale | Build real-time content operations |
| Nostalgia = gold | Create emotional micro-content from your archive |
| Venue = social trigger | Design photo-worthy moments at every event |
| Gen Z input baked in | Use youth panels in the creative process |
| Cross-functional unity | Run a daily content war room during key events |
| Real-time analytics | Adapt content based on daily signals |
| Evolve the wrapper | Keep the essence, modernize the experience |
Final Thought: Content Is Not the Fix. But It Is Where the Fix Begins.
Wimbledon did not save tennis.
And viral content will not save cricket, rugby, or baseball.
Because for slow-tempo sports, content alone will not bridge the gap.
The product itself needs to evolve match length, pacing, access, interactivity. Something has to shift.
But Wimbledon 2025 proved something else:
Even without changing the rules, you can change the relationship.
You do not have to compromise your legacy.
You just have to translate it into relevance.
So no, Gen Z did not abandon sports.
Sports abandoned the way Gen Z experiences the world.
Now is the time to rebuild that connection with formats that fit and stories that stick.
Heritage still matters.
But only if it knows how to trend.
With Love for Sports and Innovation
Amir
P.S.
I’ve set aside time this month for a few 1:1 conversations with sports execs thinking through their AI strategy.If that’s you or you just want to bounce around ideas you’re welcome to grab a time with me via my [My Calendly]. No strings attached.
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