Wimbledon 2009: Great Tennis, Corporate Excess

What bailout? Despite receiving $32.9 billion from the British government, RBS is still spending thousands to entertain clients at Wimbledon

By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek

1. Wimbledon 2009—Splendor in the Grass

Among the books making the rounds pre-Wimbledon this year is the well-reviewed A Terrible Splendor, which chronicles the gripping 1937 Davis Cup match held at Wimbledon between American Don Budge and Germany's Baron Gottfried von Cramm. Before an audience that included high-ranking Nazi officials sipping tea in the Royal Box, World No. 1 Budge, determined to keep the Cup out of the hands of the Nazi regime, battled No. 2 von Cramm, equally determined to keep himself out of Nazi hands, an event likely to be precipitated by his loss. Budge won, and von Cramm was duly imprisoned by the Gestapo. (He lived through the ordeal only to die in a car crash in Egypt in the 1970s.)

Fast-forward to 2009, where under the much-vaunted new roof at the All England Lawn Tennis Club another global drama continues to unfold. In a world in which unemployment rates rise unilaterally and most families are without adequate health care and sustenance, do strawberries and cream, champagne, $32,064 per day entertainment suites, and $48,830 Centre Court debentures at Wimbledon represent a whole new "terrible splendor?"

Take financial giant Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which according to The Times of London, is set to spend in the neighborhood of half a million U.S. dollars on corporate hospitality at Wimbledon this year. This, "despite being saved from possible collapse" after receiving a $32.9 billion "injection by the [British] Government last year." Besides the aforementioned entertainment suite, an e-mail obtained from the All England Club indicated that additional costs for more than 40 RBS senior executives and customers would include $165 for each Centre Court seat, $125 per head for lunch, and a "one-off fee" for flowers of about $245.

Apparently, corporate greed doesn't stop in the front row behind home plate at Yankee Stadium, as intimated by All England Club CEO Ian Ritchie, who noted: "If there was going to be a real impact for us in the recession, particularly the timing of the [hospitality] offering, it didn't manifest itself." All 2,500 debentures—Wimbledon's five-year version of a personal seat license—sold out immediately, even though they were priced 20% higher than previous offerings. And there's good news for traditionalists who may eschew the new roof but love the club's quiet atmosphere and lack of corporate clutter. Despite the high expenses of the new roof, a new Court 2, and other club improvements, brand placement around the grounds continues to be beyond subtle: a small Rolex logo on the scoreboards and modest IBM signage recognizing the club's technology partner. Says Ritchie, as reported by Reuters: "The most important thing for us is brand protection. We do not want to be involved with somebody simply to take the money if it doesn't fit absolutely with our brand and with our longer-term objectives."

2. Are We Billboards or Are We Men?

One company making a comeback appearance at Wimbledon this year certainly knows a thing or two about long-term objectives: sportswear stalwart Fred Perry, the eponymous company of the last British man to claim the Wimbledon title, way back in the era of Budge and von Cramm. Top British seed Andy Murray and brother Jamie will wear retro clothing designed to mark the 100th anniversary of Perry's birth, including shorter shorts and classic V-neck tennis sweaters monogrammed with Murray's initials and the classic Fred Perry laurel wreath, the company's logo since 1952. Replicas of anniversary edition polo shirts will reportedly sell for around $99.

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