Tennis Looking East, Far East

Tennis is hurting. As the case with any dying brand, the sport has lost its appeal.

As a result, tennis is devising a strategy to attract a new audience. In this case, a very large one.

Organizers of the Australian Open are making efforts to boost interest in tennis throughout China. According to several reports, tennis is actually booming in China --- a stark contrast to the downtrend of the sport throughout North America. Li Na, the 2011 French Open winner and the first Chinese player to ever win a grand slam, has triggered a great deal of interest within the country. On the men’s side, there is no such superstar. However, 21-year-old Wu Di, the 186^th ranked player in the world, is the first Chinese man to compete in a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 1959. A rather shocking stat indeed.

Captivating the Chinese population would be a huge coup for both the ATP and WTA, especially given the lack of interest in the United States, no doubt attributable to the lack of an American superstar in the men’s game. The significance of the Chinese market cannot be understated. Just ask the Houston Rockets, who recently signed Jeremy Lin to an outrageous contract, or Manchester United, who just signed two major sponsorship deals with Chinese brands.

The Australian Open is seeking to make their major inroads via digital media. Organizers will be posting updates and premium content on Chinese social networking sites. There were also a record number of Chinese media invited to this year’s event, which is aiming to brand itself as the Grand Slam of Asia and the Pacific. By developing new digital properties, tennis executives are hoping that they can accelerate the growth of the sport in China, which claimed only 14 million participants last year.