A victorious Murray could be Beckham of tennis with £100m deal

SCOTS tennis ace Andy Murray could secure a lucrative sponsorship deal worth at least £100 million if he wins Wimbledon, experts have predicted.

Marketing analysts have forecast that the 21-year-old Scot will be the subject of a bidding war between brands as they attempt to capitalise on his success.

Jonathan Gabay of Brand Forensics said a victory would mean that the "sky's the limit".

"At the moment they say he's got about £5m in advertising sponsorship," he said.

"Potentially, if he actually won, we're talking £100m-plus, because it's just going to go on and on from there.

"He would become a new David Beckham of the tennis world, then he goes totally international. We really are talking the sky's the limit. I have seen reports that start at £80m, £100m and go on from there."

Mr Gabay added that Murray could be much bigger than Tim Henman.

"Henman had endorsements of around £20m and the reason he had so much money was because he had the underdog quality that the English love; they could identify with him," he said.

"But if Murray picks up the tournament, then he becomes a worldwide phenomenon. It would be particularly powerful because given that nobody (British] has won it in decades, he would be a one-off."

The forecasts of his earning potential came after his marathon five set victory against Stanislas Wawrinka on Monday.

Following the epic match yesterday Murray complained about the humidity under the new centre court canopy, after it was closed for the first time.

"I was sweating so much," he said. "From the start I noticed it. Both of us were trying to get towels from the locker room because our hands were drenched. "When I finished, it was as if I'd been in a bath. It was very, very humid. So it kind of slowed (the ball] down a lot, and I struggled to serve because it wasn't coming off the strings that quickly."

He said the £80m canopy had also changed the way the court had played, making it harder to serve. He was surprised the officials had started the match under it without informing either player until the last moment, he added.

However, Ian Ritchie, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, defended the decision, saying Murray was entitled to his opinion but he did not think the humidity was a "great factor" in the match.

Murray did praise the canopy for amplifying the sound of the crowd during the match.

He said: "If it's loud, then it's better. It means the people are more behind you."

Corporate hospitality ticket-holders were blamed yesterday for the surprising number of empty seats spotted during the match. A Wimbledon corporate hospitality source said: "Their tickets cost up to £1,000 per day, but it's just a race to drink and eat as much as possible. They get there in the morning and start drinking immediately.

"Many of them watch an hour or two on Centre Court then come back to the corporate area – and some don't even use their ticket at all."

How it all adds up

FANS

FANS have been camping out since 5.30am on Monday for tickets for today's quarter final – creating the longest wait in Wimbledon's 123-year history.

About 1,000 people are vying for the 500 remaining £82 tickets for the 15,000-capacity centre court. Nearly all the seats have been allocated through an annual ballot, five-year debentures and corporate hospitality, with 600 due to be sold on the Ticketmaster website last night. The actor Ewan McGregor, who roared on Murray during Tuesday's match, may be among stars in today's crowd. A clutch of other celebrities is expected on the Royal Box guest list.

Sir Sean Connery has already phoned Murray to wish him well. Sir Chris Hoy, the Olympic gold-medal winning cyclist, said: "He's got to make sure he enjoys it – having so many people cheering you on at centre court must be an incredible experience."

BOOKIES

RAISED expectations that Murray will cruise into the final rounds have already seen betting on his matches slump as the odds were cut so short that even his girlfriend Kim Sears, pictured right, might find the superstar Scot an unattractive wager.

Bookmakers William Hill yesterday listed him as 1-14 favourite to win his match against wild card entry Juan Carlos Ferrero, who he beat last month to go through to the final of Queen's Tennis Championship.

In addition, the bookmakers have given odds of 33-1 for Murray to win the first set of the match 6-0, and an unappealing 1-25 to hold his first service game and 9-1 to lose it.

CLUBS

TENNIS clubs may not be able to cope with demand from budding players if Andy Murray wins Wimbledon, officials fear.

They said Scotland's lack of courts could see them swamped by people inspired to pick up a racquet.

Alex Harkins, a tennis development officer with Edinburgh Leisure, said: "People are already queueing to get on to courts because of Murray."

A spokesman for Dunblane Sports Club, where Murray started, said: "If we generate the interest we believe would ensue, we simply don't have sufficient facilities to cope in terms of places to play."

PREPARATION

ANDY Murray rewarded himself for his late-night four-hour victory on Monday night with a lie-in yesterday – before heading to the practice courts again.

Sources said Murray hit his bed at 1am after his epic win and slept solidly until 10am.

He then returned to the All England Club for a 1pm round of interviews before hitting the practice courts from 2pm, where he played the customary game of "tennis football" with his coaching team.

The game has resulted in a number of forfeits during the tournament, with losers forced to endure embarrassing tasks.

After practice Murray was due to go for an ice bath to aid his recovery from Monday's gruelling match, followed by a physio session and massage.

Last night he said he wanted to eat "three or four very big meals".

TELEVISION

MORE than 12 million television viewers watched Andy Murray's nail-biting win on Monday night.

BBC1 cleared its schedule to show the match uninterrupted, and extended coverage meant the Ten O'Clock News was put back more than 40 minutes.

The match drew well over twice the usual audience who would be expected to tune in to the news at that time, which is normally around 5 million.

When Murray won match point against Stanislas Wawrinka in the five-set battle, the audience reached 12.6 million, with an average of 8.6 million watching during the match's duration.

More than half of UK TV viewers were watching BBC1 in the build-up to Murray's triumph, figures showed. A BBC spokesman said yesterday: "From the outset it looked like the match was going to be very close so we took the decision to move it to BBC1 and to stay with it right to the end to ensure the maximum number of people could enjoy this game."

SPONSORS

HIGH-PROFILE sponsors of Murray can expect to see a boost through association with the player. Professor Paul Freathy, marketing expert at Stirling University, said: "If people can see a sport being successful by an individual, then there's an uptake on it. That has an effect on the amount of kit being sold. For anyone sponsoring Murray, this exposure will create an awareness of that brand – it's then down to them to capitalise on it." However, Jonathan Gabay, of Brands Forensic, said Murray's appeal is likely to extend well beyond sports products and be "a brand looking for somebody with vigour, courage, success against all odds."