Wimbledon Reimagined: ESPN’s Bold Campaign Signals a New Era in Sports Storytelling

• It’s expected that over 500 million viewers will witness Wimbledon 2025, and in turn, brands are launching distinctive campaigns. 
• ESPN’s ad series titled “Quiet Please”, which bore the influence of Wes Anderson, raises the stakes of creativity in sports marketing.

Wimbledon Anticipation Builds — And So Does the Branding

As Centre Court prepares for yet another prestigious fortnight, there is talk about Wimbledon 2025. For two weeks, the fans were merely talking about two weeks of superb tennis—now they have stepped into a story and spectacle shared equally.

ESPN’s latest campaign, “Quiet Please”, has taken centre stage in this narrative. Drawing heavily from the stylistic world of Wes Anderson, the ad trades high-octane visuals for artful restraint. Pastel tones, meticulously framed shots, and a calmly delivered script replace the usual sports fanfare.

It’s a tonal shift that’s both unexpected and intriguing — and it’s helping shape the cultural lens through which this year’s tournament will be viewed.

Campaign Meets Culture

The 2025 edition of Wimbledon is forecast to attract over 39 million viewers in the UK alone, according to Ofcom projections. Globally, the tournament is expected to reach upwards of 500 million viewers across platforms.

For a broadcaster like ESPN, visibility isn’t enough. Presence must be memorable.

Their answer? Style it like cinema.

The campaign, featuring British actor Adrian Scarborough in a narrating role, is scripted with surgical precision. It has a slow, steady pace. The slow pacing, or deliberate pacing, makes the whole promotional ad visually enticing. Such ads almost force a viewer to stop and watch. In today’s content exhaustion, this is a rare feat.

Visual Storytelling That Clicks

In the age of endless scrolling, ESPN has found a way to be still — and still be seen. The Wes Anderson-style selections in all its advertisements entered the younger crowds, being more to aesthetes rather than traditional sports hype-hop. 

This is no marketing gimmick: this is a cultural punch.

Since the rollout of this campaign, engagement in the Instagram page of ESPN Tennis has doubled, while reels showcasing clips of the advertisement have been trending from Brazil to Spain to Japan in that order. 

There is some form of global synchronisation with distant markets, all visual cues being absorbed and shared.

Wimbledon’s Brand Ensemble

Of course, ESPN isn’t the only major player in the marketing landscape. Wimbledon 2025 is a magnet for iconic sponsors:

• Rolex continues its long-running role as the Official Timekeeper, leveraging timelessness and precision.
• LVMH returns to fashion’s high notes and the tournament’s elite status.
• At its 122nd year of supplying balls to the event, Slazenger is celebrating its legacy with a somewhat new set of twists.
• Evian is doubling down on sustainability with refillable bottle stations and eco-messaging throughout the grounds.

These aren’t just logo placements. They are curated identities that align with the Wimbledon brand.

The Audience Has Changed — The Messaging Has Too

In 2024, 61% of digital Wimbledon viewers fell into the 18–34 demographic — a figure that continues to grow. These viewers aren’t drawn to traditional broadcasts; they’re interested in layered narratives, design-forward visuals, and campaigns that reflect cultural fluency.

Wimbledon is keeping up.

TikTok is rumoured to be launching a creator challenge tailored around the event. British Airways is experimenting with AI-generated ads following player journeys. Even Häagen-Dazs is back with its courtside pop-up after a measurable sales boost during last year’s event.

The grounds of Wimbledon will be as much about digital footprints as they are about forehands.

Inside ESPN’s Creative Process

It took ESPN CreativeWorks nearly six months to bring “Quiet Please” to life. Every detail — from the vintage court uniforms to the handcrafted sets — was built from scratch.

The campaign was filmed like a movie, with actors instructed to perform with deliberate stillness. Dialogue was scripted for tone rather than volume. Even the sound design was minimal, leaning into the tension of silence over swelling music.

The result is an ad that feels like a reset — a moment of quiet before the storm of competition.

Who to Watch: On Court and On Brand

Expect star power to be everywhere, not just in the sponsor tents.

Carlos Alcaraz enters the tournament as a frontrunner, backed by Nike and poised to defend his status as one of the sport’s biggest draws. Jannik Sinner, with Red Bull’s energy and growing fanfare, will also be a player to watch.

On the women’s side, Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka continue to lead the rankings. Świątek, also a Nike athlete, is seen as a crowd favourite, while Sabalenka’s powerful game and off-court charisma have made her a rising marketing star.

Other notable brand-athlete pairings include:

• Adidas with Alexander Zverev and Elina Svitolina
• Lacoste with Daniil Medvedev
• New Balance with Coco Gauff
• Asics with Novak Djokovic, who may make another deep run

Each athlete is not just competing — they are carrying the weight of global campaigns, product lines, and real-time brand storytelling.

The Final Serve

Wimbledon 2025 promises to be far beyond a sporting event: a stage where the world will witness tradition, transformation, and media precision.

ESPN’s “Quiet Please” campaign set the mood first — an elegant, deliberate, and quietly commanding presence. That is the trend: sport and culture are moving towards curated experiences that give equal importance to style as to statistics.

Now with unfolding games and the cameras on, there is an underscore to “beginning before the first serve”.

This year, more colours, symmetry, and a deliberate quietness are narrating the story.