Wimbledon and IBM unveil new AI fan tools for 2026 Championships

The All England Lawn Tennis Club and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced new AI-powered digital features for The Championships, Wimbledon, set to run June 29 through July 12, 2026.

Two new tools will be available on the Wimbledon app and wimbledon.com. The first, called Key Moments, builds on the existing Likelihood to Win feature by explaining which plays influence match momentum and why. The second, an enhanced Match Chat, allows fans to ask questions in natural language and receive conversational responses that can include photos and video. Match Chat is built on IBM's watsonx Orchestrate platform and uses AI agents trained on Wimbledon's editorial style.

IBM also used a tool called IBM Bob, described as an AI-powered development accelerator, to migrate Wimbledon's content archive of more than 15,000 digital assets to a new platform architecture. According to the press release, a task that would typically require a team of four to five specialists working for months was completed by a single engineer in four weeks, with the assets extracted in 47 minutes.

IBM and the All England Club have partnered for more than 35 years. The club reported a 16% year-on-year increase in engagement across all platforms in 2025, along with a 39% growth in myWimbledon registrations over the same period.

"Our technology partnership with IBM enables us to do just that, delivering meaningful experiences which harness the latest innovations to create richer ways to engage, inform and excite our global audiences," said Usama Al-Qassab, Marketing and Commercial Director at the All England Club.

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