Why Wimbledon is serving Indian ice cream and Bollywood beats

"For JioStar, tennis broadens the engagement calendar, attracts affluent urban audiences and diversifies advertiser categories beyond cricket," says Bhalla."In India, cricket gives scale, tennis gives premium audiences…Wimbledon brings something cricket cannot - a premium, affluent, English-speaking, urban audience that brands in luxury, automotive, banking, fintech, travel and premium consumer goods actively."Getty ImagesArnav Paparkar become the first Indian in 36 years to reach the under-18 Boys Singles quarter finalsYet, for all the awareness the branding blitz has created around the tournament to convert to sustained, long term engagement with the sport, Wimbledon will have to "create lasting relevance long after the tournament ends", according to Aryan Anurag, co-founder, Binge Labs, a Delhi-based social media agency."If [these moments] are treated as one-off campaign tactics around a tournament, the impact is likely to be short-lived."For the curiosity to translate into genuine fandom, there will have to be more grassroots engagement and continued market investment, adds Dash.But for now, every major global sports property is watching Wimbledon's experiment, says Bhalla."If it demonstrates that culturally contextualised storytelling can materially increase engagement in India, then expect F-1, the NBA, the NFL, the UFC, La Liga and the Premier League to deepen their India-first content strategies."