US Open organisers brought in 100 influencers and content creators at this year’s tournament.
When a match involving two-time champion Naomi Osaka caused flash points after an influencer lead photoshoot took place, sparking a debate over tennis’ etiquette.
Interim chief executive at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Richard Atkinson said “Wimbledon did not offer accreditation to influencers” as the US Open does, stating that this was “unlikely to change in the near future.”
Atkinson went on to say that influencers are a “crucial part of the marketing mix” and that to ban them entirely would be “nonsense” however if brought by brands they would have to be “tightly chaperoned.”
World number for said a “new demographic ” to the sport is important to welcome after the US Open inccident.
However she went on to say “I think it’s just, follow the etiquette of the sport. That’s all.”
Atkinson joked about introducing the military to deal with any sort of influencer trouble stating “If you tried to do that at Wimbledon, I think you’d probably have some Royal Marine Commando”
“We do have military. And they would like nothing more, I suspect, than to sort out some influencer.”
However, Atkinson did mention that the media landscape has changed. Insinuating that the sport should embrace influencers and content creators to ensure that the tournament remains relevant.
