Wimbledon 2008 began today at the All English Lawn Tennis and Croquet club in Wimbledon, London, England. The event is one of four world Grand Slam tournaments, the others held in Australia, France, and the US respectively. While so often the focus is on the championships to be won and/or defended, major sporting events like Wimbledon are big business with Wimbledon being one of the world's foremost brands in sports.

While the Brits may not have had a champion for several decades, according to The Guardian the marketing of the Wimbledon Championship is a champion effort of its own. With licensing deals with more than 40 companies both global and domestic and a new Centre Court Shoppe selling Wimbledon branded merchandise, generated a surplus upwards of £26m that go back into the coffer of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which has exclusive rights to host the championship.

While merchandising is very important for the marketing and branding of the Wimbledon games, Roger McCowen, marketing director at the All-England club, says: "Merchandising is very small in the context of the income from our TV rights and our big official suppliers, but the difference is in the geographical reach, the 52-week awareness, the brand extension."

The LTA has deals with BBC, NBC, ESPN and other international networks for exclusive coverage of the tornement, as well as broadcasting online and to mobile phones as well. When it comes to awareness and branding, the Lawn Tennis Association has the bases covered and is a global marketing and branding success.