Meet Court 19: The IBM Tech Hub Upgrading Wimbledon

Wimbledon attracts roughly half a million fans to its historic grounds each year, alongside hundreds of millions accessing the tournament digitally across the globe. 

Ahead of opening its gates next week, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) – which manages the championships – has released several updates to its website and app with its 39-year-old partner IBM to reach more fans.

Moving into the second year of a five-year digital development roadmap, the two organisations are proving that “strawberries and cream” can coexist seamlessly with gen AI.

At a recent press briefing panel, leaders from AELTC and IBM explained how a comprehensive overhaul of Wimbledon’s digital ecosystem is transforming the fan experience. 

“Wimbledon has been around for a long time... we want to be at the pinnacle of sport and that means looking after everyone that takes part,” explained Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing and Communications Director at the AELTC. 

To do that, the club relies heavily on understanding its diverse audience.

“[We] need to understand where they are, what they do, how they interact… Our ambition is to engage more people, more often and in different ways.”

Court 19 as the year-round engine room

While millions focus on Centre Court, a different kind of magic happens behind the scenes at “Court 19”, the nickname Kameryn Stanhouse, Vice President of Global Sports and Entertainment Partnerships at IBM, gives to the behind-the-scenes tech hub at Wimbledon. 

“We work with them [the AELTC] the same way we work with any customer,” she said.

“What makes the partnership so special is it’s not an off/on [situation]… we have a team of 50 consulting people that are working on the Championships year round. 

“Many of my team you can find in the Wimbledon offices.”

This constant collaboration allows Wimbledon – which celebrates its 150th anniversary next year – to balance its legendary history with technology. 

“What makes us uniquely paired is we both have valued history but are also looking forward,” Kameryn said. 

Usama agreed, highlighting that heritage and modernisation are not mutually exclusive.

“We don’t see tradition and innovation as butting against each other. We’ve always innovated here at Wimbledon but we do it in a cautious manner,” he said, pointing to the retractable roofs on Centre Court and No. 1 Court as past examples. 

“We are not a technology company. We are brilliant aggregators, we understand our horticulture, we look after players and have brilliant player facilities, but when we get to partner with IBM, we can tap into their daily knowledge... By partnering with the right people, we don’t have to be the experts.”

Elevating the fan experience via watsonx

A central pillar of the newly launched website and app is the introduction of advanced AI tools built on IBM’s watsonx platform, designed to satisfy everyone from the “Minnesota to Manchester” fanatic to the casual viewer. 

As Usama observed, “the general sports fan will watch Wimbledon, those who will only watch one tennis match per year, will watch Wimbledon.”

Among the key 2026 features is the Enhanced Live Likelihood to Win model. 

This tool considers what is happening in the news to create a combined pre-match projection, an AI model that “has been accurate for the last three years for the men’s singles final,” Usama added.

As a live match progresses, the percentages dynamically shift. Crucially, the platform provides complete transparency on why the AI is making its assertions. 

Complementing this is the new Key Moments tool, which gives fans a deeper look into the momentum swings defining a match. 

For those looking for an interactive companion, the Enhanced Match Chat feature allows users to type natural language prompts like 'What has happened in the match so far?”' or even ask how to pronounce a player’s name. 

The feature now pulls in live videos and photos for instant context. According to Usama, this tool caters seamlessly to “the tennis expert or the novice, and keeps them within the app”.

The Story of IBM Bob

The briefing also highlights how IBM modernised Wimbledon’s digital infrastructure. 

Rebuilding a digital platform used by fans, media and players typically takes months of painstaking structural alignment.

To solve this, IBM Consulting turned to an AI-powered development accelerator named IBM Bob.

Wimbledon needed to migrate its archive of over 15,000 digital assets – including historic articles, videos and photographs – along with all its complex metadata relationships. IBM Bob analysed these assets and constructed a comprehensive knowledge graph.

Fred Baker, Sports Industry Leader EMEA and IBM Consulting Associate Partner, described it as a generational leap in productivity: “Effectively 10-years worth of development was possible with a team of 50 developers and digital workers.”

Human-led data and future growth

Despite the staggering technical capabilities, the panel repeatedly stressed that technology remains secondary to the human element. 

“Everything we do with the club is human led,” Fred emphasised. “As the people who build and run the solution, we’ve curated it to automate where we want it to but also allow the human to be in the loop for when we want it to.”

This balance is vital for maintaining accuracy and trust. Tennis commentator Gigi Salmon noted that Wimbledon’s legacy relies on three words: tradition, players and legacy.

Gigi added that the target is to “keep Wimbledon at the pinnacle of sport, and commentary is a huge part of that... to check on confidence of data and answers. When information reaches the fan in real time, it has to be accurate”.

The strategy is clearly working. Following a 16% year-on-year increase in digital engagement in 2025, Usama noted that the club continues to enjoy double-digit yearly growth, reaching over 18 billion total engagements. 

“We’ve got to thank the players first and foremost, but it [IBM tech] is certainly driving much higher levels of engagement, leading people to ask questions and share content with each other,” he said.

As Wimbledon approaches its start date on 29 June, the focus remains on the fans. 

For Usama, the ultimate metric of success isn’t hidden in a data centre, but at the front gates. 

“There is nothing like hearing ‘please open the gates’ – we’re really fortunate because Wimbledon has become bucket list,” he said. “Seeing the smiles on the fans’ faces is the most important thing.”